No Need For Sasami
by Shorin
Summary: 20 Years after the OAV series, Princess Sasami seeks her own identity in the face of growing power of the Tree of Darkness. Based off Ryoko's Love by Long Tran.
1. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 1

  
  
Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC.   
As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other   
than my own enjoyment, because the thought of getting sued is rather   
unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo   
Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of fiction.   
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence. Anyone  
who thinks otherwise is probably just itching for a fight. Also, please  
do not try and distribute this story in some lame attempt to make a   
buck; it would be bad karma to say the least.  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
"A dream is an answer to a question a question we haven't learned to ask."  
-- FBI Special Agent Dana Scully  
  
  
-* Chapter One *-  
  
  
'Imagine,' a ghostly voice echoed in the vast expanse of darkness.  
  
In a cavernous underworld, the air was heavy, but not quite stagnate.   
Pushed by the small and oily waves of a huge subterranean cauldron of   
poisonous water, the air was circulated enough to offer some deadly whisper of   
a breeze for those unfortunates who might be alive in such a place. Reaching   
up from the edges of the water were monstrously tall walls of rock, enclosing   
the putrid air and water while supporting unfathomable amounts of stone   
above with a massive dome in whatever dimension this place existed in.  
  
Though inky black with darkness, a silver sheen managed to gloss the   
crest of each of the small and thickly moving waves, giving each a metallic   
luster like a finely polished piece of hematite. Without the motion of the   
slow waves, however, there was no other sense of up or down, left or right.   
There was only darkness and the heavy, humid air.  
  
Drifting along the near stagnate air currents in the underworld for   
what might seem a maddening eternity, there was a place in the massive   
cavern where light did exist. In what was the center of the oily lake came a   
pale green luminance, adding very little as a light source and existing more   
as another sheen to the waves than anything else.  
  
'Imagine,' the disembodied voice repeated out across the waters.  
  
Closing in on the direction of the disconcerting green glow, a small   
island with steep shores could just be made out. On the island was a massive   
tree, shrouded in darkness. Well formed and thick with leaves, the tree's   
limbs and branches stretched out over the water, arching down almost to the   
water's surface, but never touching. It was as if the tree sensed the   
poisonous nature of the liquid, and did well to stay free of it. The tree,   
however, did not present any reassurance of hope or life from its presence in   
the blackness. Since the only hint of light came from the disturbing glow off   
its bark, it was unthinkable that any kind of normal tree could live and   
thrive in such absence of light.  
  
But then again, this was not a normal tree.  
  
A presence stirred at the base of its massive trunk, crouched in dark   
shadow with its back resting against the tree and its arms wrapped around its   
knees. A pair of dark red eyes peered out through the blackness through half   
closed lids, watching the emptiness warily as if scanning for the source of   
the voice. It was a voice that had echoed since the being could first   
remember coming into contact with this place. A voice with no face, but with   
a name.  
  
"Yuzuha," the crouched being whispered in an even voice, "do you   
realize how much time has passed since the violation of this place?"   
  
There was no answer to the question except the sloppy lap of water   
against the sides of the tiny island. The creature closed its eyes and took   
in a deep breath of the thick air, savoring the taste.   
  
"It is almost time, Yuzuha," it said in a quiet voice, expelling air   
slowly. "Events are gathering quickly now, and soon they will develop in a   
flurry of activity to define a moment. That moment will be mine, Yuzuha. It   
will be mine in such a way as you could never achieve."  
  
'Imagine,' echoed the voice a third time, 'the Darkness in love with   
the Light.'  
  
A thin smile came from the creature in the shadows.   
  
"Ah, my Yuzuha," it said, "but this time there will *be* no love for   
the Light. In spite of your weakness, my gift to your memory will be the   
destructionof those who tormented you so. The Tree of Light shall fall to   
the Tree of Darkness."  
  
'Imagine...' Yuzuha's voice whispered sadly.  
  
***  
  
  
There comes a point in the quiet hours of the late night where will   
power is forsaken, shear determination is for naught, and the only device left   
in one's arsenal is to lay stretched out, staring up at the ceiling. At these   
times the acceptance of insomnia, while not necessarily as relieving as   
drifting off into slumber, is a considerable improvement from the tossing and   
turning, balling of sheets with fists, or even half hearted attempts at auto-  
asphyxiation with a pillow. To lay in bed, eyes sleepily peeled open, and   
stare at small knots in the wood grain of the ceiling, when compared to the   
previous six creeping hours of hopeless thrashing, is something of a small   
gift.  
  
"Two hundred seventy-two. Two hundred seventy-three. Two   
hundred seventy..."   
  
Closing her eyes tightly, Sasami erupted a yawn, breaking her audit   
of the flaws in the ceiling. It was a half-hearted, uncontrollable yawn and   
brought her no closer to the promise of sleep than the several hundred before   
that. Sasami dragged one of her hands across her futon to her face and slowly   
began to massage her jaw; the muscles there, unaccustomed to so much work,   
were quite sore. Sliding her hand up from her jaw line, it came to rest over   
her eyes, and laid there for a few moments before sliding back out beside her   
to rest again on the futon. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.  
  
It took her several minutes to process the realization: "I've lost   
count again," she mumbled without emotion for the fourth time in the past   
hour. A pain slowly had been asserting itself across her chest from her   
stomach for at least as long as the last time she had rolled over and looked   
at her clock on the dresser, and *that* had been only after the first time   
Sasami had lost count with the ceiling. To preserve her sanity, she had vowed   
not to watch the second hand tick by for the rest of the night.   
  
Sasami considered the ceiling again. As far as ceilings went, it   
wasn't a particularly interesting one. There were no murals, no fancy   
molding, not even a giant mirror that one might find in a palace or even a   
nice intergalactic hotel. It was a nice ceiling, though, with a warm and   
friendly color despite its lack of grandeur. She rolled over with a small   
grunt, exhaling slowly, hoping her futon would swallow her. No matter how   
comforting the ceiling might normally be, it had defeated all evening, and   
now was a good time as any to accept that defeat.  
  
After another twenty minutes or so had passed, it occurred to Sasami   
that the dull ache in her lower chest was due to the affects of hunger. Up   
till now, she had maintained a somewhat dignified acceptance of the loss of   
her battle with insomnia and was quite prepared to lay awake and unmoving   
until sunrise, if not beyond. The inevitable growling of her stomach seemed   
like a cruel and unnecessary blow sent to mock her already numbed body, and in   
a pitiful tone, Sasami opened one eye and moaned.  
  
"Oh, forget it. It's pointless," she rationalized to herself.   
Gathering what remaining strength she possessed, Sasami rolled herself back   
onto her side and gazed at the face of her little analog clock. Five thirty-  
seven. In another thirty minutes or so, the sun would be coming up.   
  
"I might as well take care of something I *can* deal with," she   
muttered, rubbing her stomach as she rolled off her futon and padded towards   
the door.   
  
Stopping to look back, Sasami observed a small, furry ball with long   
ears twitch slightly and stretch, before settling back down in the futon covers   
with a small 'miya' of content. For one brief flash of an instant, Sasami felt   
a surge of annoyance at Ryo-ohki's ability to sleep pleasantly all evening, but   
squelched the emotions quickly before she became too ashamed with herself.  
  
Sasami continued to quietly make her way down the hallway and   
down the stairs to the kitchen; just because she was awake and tired, there   
was no reason to disturb anyone else this morning. Sliding up to the   
refrigerator, she opened up the door and blinked owlishly in the relatively   
bright light emanating from somewhere back behind the milk. Reaching in,   
she grabbed a carton of orange juice and closed the door. In a typical morning   
haze experienced by billions of people every day, she made her was back   
across the kitchen floor to a cabinet and, stretching up on her toes, pulled a   
small glass down.   
  
"Uuuhhhhh..." or some noise equivalent passed her lips as the   
thought of making breakfast, fiddling with ovens, and clanging pots around   
presented itself. Instead, Sasami walked over to the counter, grabbed two   
bananas sitting there, and walked through the kitchen door outside onto a   
small porch.  
  
Stepping down from the porch into the yard, her brain registered a   
somewhat pleased response at the soft wetness of the dew covered grass and   
the warm feel of the air on her exposed arms. With an almost vacant   
determination, she headed off towards the lake that the house faced, making   
her way for a small dock that extended out into the water. Above her the sky   
was a scene of retreating stars and fading dark blue colors being chased by a   
relentless soft pink and orange, speckled here and there with high, thin wisps   
of clouds.  
  
In the face of the beautiful tranquillity playing out above her, Sasami   
steadfastly ignored the sky and achieved her destination at the end of the   
small dock. After sitting down with a rather undignified plop and an "Umph!",   
she poured a glass of juice from the carton, set the carton and glass aside,   
and began to denude a hapless banana. Taking a first small bite, Sasami slowly   
chewed the piece of banana and gazed at the water, which was quietly lapping   
at the dock pilings. Sticking the banana in her mouth, she rolled up the   
pajama leggings of her left leg, and then her right leg. Satisfied that they   
would not come falling down, she removed the banana from her mouth and   
slowly eased her feet over the dock into the water. She winced at first from   
the shock; it was the middle of summer here on this part of the Earth, but the   
water was still cool enough to elicit a few goose bumps on her arms. Still   
slowly attacking her first banana, Sasami leaned forward and watched herself   
make small ripples in the water with her feet.  
  
It took a few minutes before her reflection became visible to her. The   
sky at first had still been mostly darkness dotted by stars, but eventually   
enough light from the morning dawn filtered into the sky to light up her   
section of the lake, even though the sun had yet to make its appearance.   
Sasami, still chewing in a slow and almost unhappy manner, studied the   
image reflected in ripples.   
  
A young woman who looked to be in her early twenties stared back in   
the reflection, her eyes still half-closed and sleepy hiding soft lavender   
colored orbs with several freckles highlighting her cheeks. Further up, two   
curious marks on her forehead scrunched up in thoughtfulness, leading to   
numerous whips of soft blue hair that had somehow strayed from the wrap holding   
the rest of her mane back. Noticing the general lack of usefulness the wrap   
was providing her hair after tossing and turning all night, Sasami took one   
hand back and slowly undid it. A flourishing mass of hair tumbled down past   
her shoulders all the way down to the dock where she was sitting. She didn't   
take much notice of this as she continued to stare into the eyes of the   
reflection in the lake. As the light in the sky slowly continued to strengthen   
in the east, an increasing melancholy appeared in her facial features.   
Finishing off her first banana, Sasami took a deep breath and let out an   
audible sigh. Her reflection sighed back.  
  
"Happy birthday to me," she mumbled unhappily, and proceeded to   
maul her second banana.  
  
***  
  
  
There are certain things in life that, arguably, you are better off not   
knowing about. Unfortunately, growing up has a way of forcing you to know   
these things you would much rather enjoy avoiding. I believe it started in   
childhood for me; life was pretty much a beautiful garden, happy and without   
much concern for anything in particular. I had a comfortable room, with a   
comfortable bed, and the first of a number of sidekick stuffed animals to keep   
me company. Outside of my room wasn't much different - there was my   
mother and father, who, while somewhat on the serious side, provided various   
external comforts, and my older brother by ten years who didn't really make   
much sense, but was nonetheless part of that comfort zone. At any rate, life   
wasn't to shabby until I learned how to ride a bike at the age of five.   
Showing a fairly adept skill at bike riding, and soon having the cursed   
training wheels removed, it seemed only natural (to my father anyway) to let   
me have a go at an off road motorcycle two weeks before my sixth birthday.  
  
The motorbike was a tiny Honda Z50, which my brother had   
outgrown a couple years previously, that compared to me was a giant. For the   
first year, I relied on someone larger than me to kick start the engine, lean   
the bike up against a tree, and let me climb myself on. Once seated with my   
helmet, I would pop the little three speed clutch into gear and tear off into   
the backyard and surrounding neighborhood. For a good five or six months, I   
was both the terror and the envy of the neighborhood, depending on who you   
asked. The few kids my age around my house wanted nothing more than to   
hitch rides behind me, while various mothers on more than one occasion   
dropped by the house to ask my father to prohibit me from zipping about on   
such an obviously dangerous machine. What kind of father, a serious engineer   
and an obviously sensible and practical man, would allow his six year old to   
thunder about on a motorcycle obviously too large for the driver? Well,   
apparently mine, since he never made me stop, so long as I never tore up   
anyone else's yard, his lawn, or my mother's garden. Anyhow, all was blissful   
with that bike until, while admittedly showing off to some neighborhood kids,   
I lost control of the bike, accidentally throttled it to full speed, and   
smacked into the side of a brick wall, giving myself a bloody lip and a banged   
noggin, despite the helmet.  
  
This was my first real indication that I was not so indestructible as I   
had previously thought in my six short years of life. Suddenly, an awful   
realization that life could be quite painful had dawned upon me, leaving me   
none too happy at first. Regardless, it was an important life lesson that a)   
smacking into brick walls at twenty miles per hour hurts, and that b) learning   
to avoid or deal with the pain of smacking into brick walls at twenty miles per   
hour is probably a good thing to remember.  
  
So, my innocence was lost. The world got bigger and a little more   
uncertain, and just a bit more uncomfortable - not unlike the sensation I was   
getting standing in a huge line inside a Tokyo international air terminal,   
waiting to have my passport examined by an efficient looking Japanese   
official. I say efficient looking, because the line was not going anywhere,   
whatsoever. After an incredibly long flight out of San Francisco, with an   
overnight stop in Hawaii, I and the rest of my airline compadres were in less   
than top condition to be standing for another hour or two waiting to enter the   
country. However, the official had her job to do, and she was doing it   
thoroughly. So, I did not see much reason to even bother complaining to   
myself about it, though I did grumble a bit as a muscle in my back let its   
existence be known to me.   
  
"Definitely," I thought, "long lines in airport terminals are something   
I really don't need to know about." I got bumped from behind by a tired and   
apologetic woman. "I'm sure this falls under the 'It builds character'   
clause," I muttered to myself.  
  
Though several years of after work, spare time study had left me with   
what I felt was a fairly good verbal command of the Japanese language,   
nevertheless, I decided to stick to the line for English speaking peoples to   
ensure that I did not say anything that got misunderstood before I had even   
barely stepped into the country. Eventually, my turn in line came up, and I   
passed my passport to the tireless looking official. She opened up the   
passport, looked at the picture, looked at me, and then looked at the picture   
again.  
  
Very short light brown hair, brown eyes, and small glasses supported   
on a six foot one, one hundred and ninety pound in-shape frame. If someone   
asked me to honestly describe my appearance, I would likely say passingly   
handsome in a rather non-descript sort of way and probably get "boo-hooed"   
for being too self-effacing. Jeans and hiking boots would be my regular   
comfort clothes, even though a number of years as an engineer had left me   
very familiar with how to look more than presentable in a suit. They just felt   
more relaxed and easy going, which were two of my cannons of life.  
  
"Nathaniel Swann?" the airport official piped up in English that   
sounded probably better than mine.  
  
"That's right," I stated, looking up from a few other papers I was   
juggling in my hands.  
  
"Are you here on business, and how long do you plan to be staying in   
Japan?"   
  
"No, I'm here site seeing, and I plan on being in Japan for three or   
four weeks, I suppose." I did not have any real plans as far as time went. I   
have always felt it is best to have more general and non-specific plans for the   
future, leaving the picky details for the near present.  
  
Of course, I suppose I had the luxury of having that philosophy.   
Having graduated from college as a petroleum engineer at twenty-two, I went   
straight away into the refining industry for several years for a large American   
petroluem company. For four years I worked away with a fair amount of   
success, until I had a small epiphany about how to change part of a petrol   
cracking process to make it a little more efficient. Almost on a lark, I   
patented my idea, wrote a small article in an industry journal about it, and   
sudden was offered several million dollars by a large Australian based oil   
company for the rights, plus a small royalty fee. That little gain in   
efficiency of cracking oil, when its effects were distributed over many years   
of a refrinery's life, meant savings for that company of hundreds of millions   
of dollars, so I guess they got a bargain. Not long after the deal was done,   
and not really needing to work as much to support myself, I got an itch to see   
some of the world, particularly Japan. Being suddenly independently wealthy,   
I no longer had to worry about where my career was going to be in a few years,   
and I could simply drop everything to follow that itch.   
  
All this, and I was now twenty-eight, standing in a Tokyo airport   
doing my best to convince this woman that I was mostly harmless. I guess she   
believed me, because after a few more questions, she let me pass out of the   
international terminal without as much fuss as most people were having to   
endure.  
  
Being able to drop everything and just head off to a foreign country   
for a vacation doesn't mean that I do things haphazardly. Despite my ability   
to speak Japanese, which I was now rapidly downgrading from "fairly good" to   
"just barely", I had no illusions of being able to read Japanese very well. To   
this day, give me a newspaper, and there's a fifty-fifty shot I still will have   
problems reading the headline. As a result, I had a series of very detailed   
maps of Tokyo and surrounding prefectures listing all sorts of services, sites,   
and locales in English with their kanji equivalents written underneath. It had   
taken a while, and a bit of cash, to get all these maps for myself, but I   
figured walking around with half a clue as to where I was going was certainly   
better than blind wandering.  
  
My first destination was someplace to sleep. I had never really   
experienced jet lag before, but as the sun was coming up outside of the   
airport, I definitely felt like I should be falling asleep, and quickly.   
Retrieving my luggage, and shouldering my internal frame backpack, I wandered   
off to the nearby train station, heading for a stop that would put me off   
somewhere with lots of nice, comfortable places to sleep.  
  
***  
  
  
Something heavy and soft was covering Sasami's face, threatening to   
suffocate her. Finding herself unable to see and getting difficult to breath,   
she started to panic and squirm about.  
  
"Would you *please* be still for just another moment?" a familiar but   
exasperated voice toned. "Honestly, Sasami, how do you expect to get to the   
end of this day if you can't even get your dress on?"  
  
With a final tug and last ditch squirm, Sasami's head popped into   
daylight with a completely bewildered expression. It took her a moment to   
register her surroundings, but she quickly recognized them as the royal Jurai   
palace, specifically an anteroom to the main hall. Look straight ahead of her,   
Sasami saw her reflection in a huge crystal mirror.  
  
She gasped.  
  
Empress Ayeka of Jurai looked up from her work on a hem line to   
Sasami's dress and smiled thinly. "Yes, it *is* beautiful isn't it, Sasami?   
Though as far as this hem line goes, the dress makers made a total shambles   
out of it. Remind me after the wedding, and I'll be sure to have them properly   
disciplined for such shoddy work." Pulling a bit of thread from the dress,   
Ayeka deftly snipped it off with a pair of scissors and absently tossed it to   
the floor.  
  
Her jaw still drooped open slightly, Sasami was simply stunned by the   
gorgeous dress she was wearing. Snow white, with shades of blue and green   
that literally shimmered as she moved, the dress seemed to radiate outward in   
splendor while at the same time drawing attention to the beautiful nature of   
Sasami's face and figure. Her sister's words finally made way into her   
understanding.  
  
"W-w-wedding?" Sasami stammered, looking down. Suddenly she   
realized part of her uneasiness was do to the fact she was standing on a narrow   
stool, a good deal higher than Ayeka's head. Vertigo quickly asserted itself,   
and Sasami began to topple slightly as her knees became weak.  
  
"Sasami!" Ayeka exclaimed, partly from concern and from   
annoyance. "Please try to remain upright! You are a princess, and princesses   
do *not* get weak in the knees."  
  
"W-w-wedding?"  
  
"You are uncharacteristically coherent this morning, I see. Yes, a   
wedding. Don't tell me you've forgotten you are getting married in a few   
minutes?" Ayeka looked at her sister speculatively. "Close your mouth, dear.   
It's not fitting for a princess to gape."  
  
Sasami's mouth closed shut with a snap. Spinning her eyes about the   
room, she took brief notice of the ceremonial guards near the door and the   
familiar furniture of the anteroom she had been in countless times before.  
  
"I'm not hallucinating," she thought to herself. "I'm really here   
wearing this dress. My goodness, it's lovely!" She used her hands to   
carefully spread the train out a bit, turning slightly to see the back. Sasami   
then froze absolutely still with fright. Turning her neck as if it were made   
from rusty joints, she bent down and grabbed her sister by the shoulders.  
  
"Sasami!" Ayeka exclaimed. "Just what do you think you're -"  
  
"Oneesama!! What am I doing here??" Sasami's breath was coming   
in shallow, ragged huffs. "Who am I marrying?!"  
  
Ayeka sighed with a small smile on her lips. "Why, Sasami, that's   
what we're here to find out!" Two final snips of her scissors flashed across   
the hem, and Ayeka leaned away with satisfaction. "That should be just   
perfect. Come along now, Sasami. It's time to go find your husband."  
  
The two royal guards materialized beside Sasami and gallantly   
offered hands to help the completely bemused princess down off her perch.   
Succeeding, the guards handed Sasami over to Ayeka, and stately walked over   
to the set of doors that led into the main audience hall.  
  
"B-but, what is going on?!" Sasami stuttered again, feeling herself   
being lead by her sister towards the doors, completely unable to will her body   
to do anything but follow. As her sister smiled with satisfaction, Sasami   
heard someone with a deep voice make a loud proclamation from inside the hall.  
  
"May it please my Lords and Ladies of the Court!" the man bellowed.   
"Her Majesty, the Empress Ayeka of Jurai, and her sister, Princess Sasami!"  
  
Under brilliant lighting focused on her and Ayeka, Sasami was lead   
up a dais and gently, but firmly, forced into a chair beside the royal thrones.   
With as much dread as she had ever felt, Sasami opened her eyes slowly and   
took stock of her surroundings. Below her were several hundred lords and   
ladies of the Juraian nobility. Still dumb struck, she did notice something   
odd about the nobles closest to her.  
  
They were all young males about her age.  
  
Sasami's jaw dropped again in horror. She turned to her sister. "I'm   
marrying all of them?" she gaped.  
  
Ayeka sighed. "No, of course you are not marrying all of them. You   
only get to marry one of them." The empress peered disapprovingly at   
Sasami. "For a princess about to choose her husband from the finest young   
nobility of Jurai, you aren't acting very dignified."  
  
Sasami's mind was in a total whirl. 'I'm getting married? This *has*   
to be a joke,' she said to herself. Spinning her head rapidly back and forth   
to scan the young nobles, she recognized only a few, and those she only knew   
in passing. She whipped back around to face Ayeka. "Which one do I choose?!"  
  
"Why, Sasami," Ayeka said sweetly, "you know it doesn't matter to   
me as long as it's one of these Juraian lords." Her tone turned ever so   
slightly ominous, "Anyone else simply *won't* do, of course. Hurry now, dear   
sister, you have only two minutes to decide."  
  
"TWO MINUTES?! B-b-but... I mean... whom?!"  
  
For the first time, Sasami noticed someone from the throne beside   
Ayeka's lean forward and speak.  
  
"Now, now Ayeka," chided Shoji, Ayeka's husband, "this is a big   
decision, so don't put any more pressure on her." Shoji looked towards   
Sasami and said, "Go ahead, Princess. Just pick one that looks appealing to   
you."  
  
"One minute, thirty seconds," came Ayeka's emotionless countdown.  
  
"But I don't *want* to get married!" Sasami desperately yelled, all   
the while getting more agitated.  
  
"Sasami-chan," a voice from her right spoke.  
  
"Tenchi-niichan?! TENCHI-NIICHAN!" cried Sasami, flinging   
herself into his arms. "You've got to help me get out of here! I don't know   
what is going on, and everyone is telling me I have to choose a husband in the   
next two minutes!"  
  
"One minute left, actually," Ayeka commented offhandedly.  
  
"I'm sorry Sasami-chan," said Tenchi somewhat sadly, "but you must   
pick one of these men to marry."  
  
Sasami stopped wiping her eyes in disbelief. "Tenchi," she   
whispered. Disengaging herself from Tenchi, she stepped back towards her   
chair, her mind finally starting to work again.   
  
'All right,' she thought furiously, 'there has to be a way out of   
this..... what's going on?' She looked up again. 'Ayeka's trying to marry me   
off like some cattle -'  
  
"Thirty seconds."  
  
'-which isn't *that* surprising.' sniff 'But... Tenchi-niichan is   
*helping* her! That can't be right! Tenchi would never do something that   
made me unhappy!'  
  
"Time's up, Sasami," said Ayeka brightly. Gesturing to the young   
nobles, she asked, "Which one of them do you want to marry?"  
  
Sasami raised up steadily from her chair and wiped her eyes.   
Throwing a defiant look at her sister, she said, "None of them. I will be   
marrying no one in this or any other room."  
  
A shocked gasped came up from the audience, with many of the   
young suitors growing angry expressions on their faces. The empress gazed at   
her sister for a few moments, drumming her fingers quietly on the arm of her   
throne before speaking.  
  
"So be it, Sasami," sighed Ayeka. "We warned you what the   
consequence would be if you failed to accept a marriage." Turning to Tenchi   
she asked, "Lord Tenchi? Please bring an end to this."  
  
Whirling back around to face him, Sasami saw Tenchi pull out his   
sword, Tenchi-ken, and rap the hilt against the floor twice. Tenchi stood up   
straight, sighed, finally looked at Sasami.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sasami-chan," said Tenchi softly. His eyes then   
hardened, "but it would have been *better* if you had just gone along   
quietly."  
  
"What do you mean, gone along - uuulp!!!" quailed Sasami. Without   
warning, the floor beneath her feet had gone soft and hot and was slowly   
pulling her down. The train of her wedding dress ballooned out like a flower   
blossom as she sank lower.  
  
"Tenchi-niichan! Please, stop!" she cried, frantically trying to wade   
in the liquefying floor around her. Tenchi turned his head impassively and   
began to study some art hanging on a far wall. Sasami floundered towards her   
sister. "Oneesama! Please, help me! ONEESAMA!" she wailed again, as the   
liquid floor engulfed her shoulders.  
  
"It's far too late for that now, Sasami," Ayeka grinned maliciously.   
"No one refuses a marriage that *I* arrange."  
  
"Nooooooo!" screamed Sasami, just before she sank beneath the floor   
into blackness. Across the great royal hall, there was not a whisper of noise   
anywhere.  
  
Ayeka paused for a moment and looked thoughtfully at the space   
where her sister had just disappeared. Straightening her royal garb ever so   
delicately, she asked sweetly to no one in particular, "Well, now.... more   
tea, anyone?"  
  
***  
  
  
It was hot. It was also very dark as Sasami curled herself up into a   
tiny ball in the blackness and wept bitterly.  
  
'How could anyone do this to me?' she cried to herself. It was   
impossible to think that Ayeka, even as calculating as she was, could do   
something this horrible to her.  
  
There was no noise at all, wherever she was. No motion, no time...   
nothing to indicate movement of any sort - and it was getting hotter. Sasami   
could hardly feel her own body, either. She pulled her knees closer and   
tighter to her chest.  
  
'And what about Tenchi,' part of her mind asked pointedly. 'How   
could *he* refuse to defend you in your time of need?' Despair truly sank into   
Sasami's soul at this point, and she fervently wished for her existence to   
cease.  
  
"Sasami?" A voice. Sasami leaped out of her depression and twisted   
about in all directions, looking for the source of the voice.   
  
"Who are you? *Where* are you," she cried out, her voice suddenly   
seeming strangely slurred. "I can't see you! I can't see ANYTHING!!" Panic   
and fear threatened to overwhelm her again.  
  
"Sasami?" the voice inquired again. "Sasami. Wake up. Open your   
eyes, silly."  
  
Sasami swallowed and did as the voice commanded. Taking a deep   
breath, she opened her eyes just a bit.... and quickly slammed them shut again   
in pain.  
  
"Ow-ow-ow!" exclaimed the princess. She quickly drew both hands   
up to her face and covered her eyes. Below her, Sasami heard wave ripples   
gently lapping against the dock, and above her the voice gave a warm chuckle.  
  
"Sun is fairly bright this morning, eh, Sasami?" the voice laughed.  
  
Steeling herself against the bright light, Sasami once again peered   
through her eyelids and tried to focus on the person standing above her. At   
first, everything was still a bright blur, but with some slow eye rubbing, her   
sight finally cleared well enough to identify who was looking down at her.  
  
"Good morning, kiddo," beamed the yellow eyed woman. "Were you   
sleepwalking this morning, or did your legs fail you on the way to a morning   
swim?"  
  
Sasami blinked. "Ryoko-oneechan?"  
  
"Aaah! Who else could look so good this early in the morning,"   
Ryoko stated matter-of-factly, sporting an impish grin. "You don't look so   
hot, kiddo. Maybe you should get inside before the sun gets any higher."   
Ryoko leaned in close to Sasami's face. "Yes, definitely inside with you. Your   
cheeks are a little red from what sun you've gotten already this morning."  
  
Sasami sat up and touched her cheeks. There was a small itching   
sensation there, for certain. If she stayed out in the sun any longer today,   
it promised to develop into something more painful.   
  
"W-what time is it?"  
  
"Almost eleven o'clock," Ryoko said, glancing at her digital watch.   
"You're lucky I bothered to come by this way, or you might have slept right   
through lunch." Sasami only nodded glumly as Ryoko eyed the princess   
speculatively.  
  
"You haven't been sleeping very well the past few nights." It was a   
statement, not a question. Sasami looked up quickly wondering how Ryoko   
knew. Ryoko smiled down at her, while tapping her temple lightly.  
  
"My mental link with Ryo-ohki, remember? She's been observing   
your insomnia these past few nights and passed it along to me." Sasami only   
bobbed her head up and down again in agreement, Ryoko gave her yet another   
appraising look.  
  
"Tell you what, Sasami," she said, taking charge of the princess, "you   
pick yourself up, go inside right now, and get cleaned up. If you want, we can   
talk about whatever is bothering you later after lunch." Ryoko stretched her   
arms up above her head and yawned. Bringing them down again, she said, "In   
the meantime, I think I'll go sneak up on my husband. I've missed a lot of   
him in the past thirteen years, so I need to make up for lost time."  
  
Ryoko smiled at the princess. "By the way," she grinned, her body   
levitating off the dock, "unless you *want* your hair to smell like this lake,   
I'd get it out of the water!" With a slight hum and a shimmer in the air   
around her body, Ryoko phased out of view.  
  
Sasami watched as Ryoko winked out of sight, and blinked a few   
times in puzzlement at her last statement. Reaching behind her back, Sasami   
felt for her long hair and encountered a very wet, stringy mess that had a   
distinctly fishy odor.  
  
"Oh, maaaaaaan......" she whined.  
  
***  
  
  
On any given weekend, Ryoko could always guess with a great deal of   
certainty where her husband might be. Allowing for the occasional incident   
that might send him off in a galactic starship from time to time, it was a good   
bet Tenchi Masaki could be found tending the Masaki family shrine with his   
grandfather, practicing his Jurai sword kata in the woods, or tending the   
vegetable fields near the house. Phasing out from the lake dock, leaving   
Sasami to herself, Ryoko headed over to the fields first, materializing in the   
center of an immense carrot patch. Of all the things that had changed in the   
past thirteen years since Ryoko's death, Ryo-ohki's appetite was not one of   
them.  
  
Ryoko touched down just long enough to scan the fields for Tenchi.   
Pushing lightly off the soil, she lifted several feet off the ground before   
winking out of sight again. Phasing in and out of sight while sailing up the   
immense flight of stairs that led to the family shrine, it occurred to Ryoko   
that she had never once walked these steps all the way up or down without   
taking flight at some point. The novelty of this notion so appealed to her   
that, halfway up the steps, she dropped gently to the ground and began to   
leisurely climb the steps. Despite the fact that the temperature had been   
warming steadily all morning long, most of the steps were shaded by very old   
trees, whose outspread branches and thick leaves reached out and touched each   
other in regular intervals. Ryoko caught herself starting to whistle some   
bawdy intergalactic saloon song.  
  
'Now *that's* interesting,' Ryoko told herself. 'Not only do I almost   
never walk to get anywhere, I am fairly certain I *never* whistle.'   
  
Ryoko smiled to herself, wondering if this softness that had started   
with meeting Tenchi twenty years ago was cronic and likely to last the rest of   
her life. That last thought ebbed her smile a bit. The nature of her life and   
death bothered her immensely, as did the effect it had on her close family and   
friends, especially her husband and daughter. Not only had Tenchi and their   
daughter, Yui, had to mourn the loss of Ryoko for years, but they had also had   
to adjust to the awesome emotions inspired by her miraculous rebirth at the   
hands of her mother, Washu. What frustrated Ryoko the most was, from her   
point of view, no time had passed at all. The last thing she recalled was   
being held in Tenchi's arms after a ferocious battle, mortally wounded. She   
had finally closed her eyes, waited for what seemed no more than a second or   
two, then opened them only to find herself once again in Tenchi's arms thirteen   
years later.  
  
It's not to say that Ryoko was particularly displeased at not having to   
experience her death for the duration of thirteen years, but like all cognitive   
creatures, she was powerfully curious about the nature of life after death.   
The fact that, to her at least, absolutely nothing had happened but the blink   
of an eye was somewhat disappointing, as if she had missed out on one of the   
great universal mysteries.  
  
"And to have come so close, too," Ryoko said to no one in particular.  
  
Perhaps the best explanation of what had happened was presented by   
Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki. Recalling to back when he was in his twenties, he   
remembered having to be rushed to the hospital when his appendix had   
become infected and needed to be removed surgically. The doctors had   
administered him with drugs to put him to sleep just before the operation.   
Nobuyuki had not even gotten a yawn in, when he decided to close his eyes   
once. When he immediately opened them, he found himself being wheeled out   
of the operating room to the recovery ward. Though he had been in surgery   
for almost an hour, from his point of view no time had passed at all. So   
perhaps the same had occurred to Ryoko.  
  
This theory made Ryoko feel better, regardless of the lack of   
conclusions even her mother, the greatest scientific mind in the universe,  
had been able to come up with. It was much more comforting to think of   
herself as just being asleep for all those years than being dead. Oddly   
enough, this theory had helped both her husband and her daughter recover from   
their initial grief of reuniting with Ryoko. She was not a really a ghost, she   
had just been a sleeping beauty of sorts.  
  
'Let's not forget the role Tsunami had in my resurrection, either,' she   
pondered, her musings turning back to Sasami.  
  
Ryoko might have continued that train of thought, but she crested the   
last step and arrived in the pleasant lawn in front of the Masaki shrine. She   
instantly knew that Tenchi was not here either, but she spied someone just as   
interesting to stop and banter with for a bit.  
  
"Oi! Hey, old man," Ryoko gleefully called out.  
  
Yosho, Tenchi's grandfather, stopped his sweeping, turned about   
calmly and acknowledged her. "Good morning, demon. You're looking very   
well this morning." Yosho casually began to sweep the front steps of the   
shrine again. "Looking at you, one wonders how you've managed to keep your   
figure after ten thousand years."  
  
Ryoko instantly bristled and frowned slightly at Yosho. "You know   
perfectly well that it's only been *two* thous - " Ryoko caught herself as a   
small smile warmed across Yosho's face, knowing he had gotten her goat.   
She laughed merrily, her annoyance dissipating as quickly as it had arrived.   
Ryoko phased out of sight and reappeared to the right of Yosho, and,   
stretching up on her toes, she planted a light kiss on his cheek. "If I'm   
really ten thousand years old," she said sweetly in her low voice, "at least I   
show it better than a gray haired prince of Jurai I could mention."  
  
"Oh!" exclaimed Yosho. "So, if I insult you more often, will I get   
more kisses? Heh-heh- OW!! Ah-cha-cha!" Yosho skipped away a few paces   
grinning, one hand on his backside where Ryoko had casually smacked him   
quite hard.  
  
Yosho composed himself quickly, coughing slightly as his usual   
serious demeanor reasserted itself. "Ryoko-san, it is good to have you back   
with this family. I would have given anything to see the pain lifted from the   
hearts of Tenchi and my great grand-daughter these past years, and your   
return to us here has done just that."  
  
Ryoko felt her face go suddenly warm, and she dropped her gaze to   
the grass between them. "Yosho," she started, "I have never apologized for   
what I did all those years -"  
  
"Ah, Ryoko-san," Yosho interrupted, continuing his sweeping, "it is   
all in the far forgotten passed. Please think no more of it from this day on."  
  
***  
  
  
'I *am* getting soft in the heart,' thought Ryoko, mentally berating   
herself.  
  
She was walking a down a winding path that eased its way along the   
side of the mountain, occasionally exposed from the trees, offering a pleasant   
view of the surrounding mountain sides. Ryoko still had no doubt in her mind   
that she could wipe out of existence an entire division of Galaxy Police if the   
need ever arose; the problem was that the idea, and others like them that were   
once rather thrilling, just didn't hold her interest anymore. Having spent the   
past few millennia in a general mode of mayhem, the notion that suddenly that   
kind of lifestyle was becoming personally distasteful left Ryoko with   
something of a small identity crisis. It had probably started with meeting and   
falling in love with Tenchi. Certainly, her attitude had shifted radically   
with the birth of their daughter.  
  
'I'll give this domestic thing a century or so,' thought Ryoko, sighing   
dramatically, 'after that, maybe Tenchi wouldn't mind being first mate to a   
pirate so much.' A wicked grin split Ryoko's face, and her eyes narrowed   
with mirth. She looked around.  
  
"Being so good all the time can't be healthy for me. Time to spend   
some karma!" Ryoko rose up and disappeared with a shimmer.  
  
***  
  
  
Tenchi Masaki, member of the royal house of Jurai and part time   
carrot farmer, leaped back gracefully, bringing his boken down in a smooth,   
slashing arc before him, ending his final form of the morning. This was   
always his favorite part, after all the simulated violence and wicked cutting   
of practice; to end all the activity and let your mind drain of thoughts and   
concern was almost an addiction. Tenchi took a deep breath, ritually put away   
his weapon, and relaxed his body while maintaining a perfectly erect posture.   
Despite the final flurry of activity he had been engaged in not thirty seconds   
before, already his body had calmed considerably. He took air in through his   
nose slowly, held it in his abdomen for a few moments, then exhaled just as   
slowly through his mouth. With his eyes shut, Tenchi let the world fall away.  
  
Despite the calming nature of the relaxation exercise, Tenchi knew   
the much more practical and important purpose for it. After working your   
body and mind to a high level of aggression, where the blood pounded in your   
ears from mock battle, it was essential to return to a peaceful state before   
interacting with the rest of the world. To walk away from training with your   
heart pounding and your mind still racing colored your perception of   
unfolding events and would more often than not lead to some kind of   
misfortune. He could not even begin to count the number of times he had   
heard his grandfather recite the same words over and over, "Always let your   
mind be at peace before *and* after battle, Tenchi. The violence generated in   
your mind should be only directed at your opponent and *only* during   
combat."  
  
And how often had Tenchi further repeated the remaining philosophy   
to his daughter? "Remember, Yui, there is no place for violence in this world   
once your opponent is defeated." Probably more than he could count. Tenchi   
allowed himself a small frown; too many people in this world didn't bother to   
pass along such wisdom when training men and women in the arts of violence.   
Training someone's body as, or to use, a weapon without teaching the wisdom   
of proper restraint was nothing short of folly, as far as Tenchi was concerned.   
Clearing his thoughts again, Tenchi let go into a deeper state of standing   
meditation. For a few moments, his mind was completely devoid of thought, a   
feat easier said than done for anyone at any time. And then, without warning,   
the tiniest shiver raced through his spine.  
  
"Teeeeeeeeen-chi!" a low voice whispered by his ear. Immediately, a   
pair of very slender and powerful arms materialized around his chest and   
pulled him backwards quickly.  
  
"Waaaaaaaah!" choked Tenchi in complete surprise as he was   
dragged somewhat roughly to the ground. He found himself finally settled in   
Ryoko's lap, with her arms still firmly entrained about his chest from behind   
and her head resting on his shoulder. Tenchi worked to catch his breath.  
  
"What's the matter, Tenchi?" Ryoko inquired. "You haven't been   
this tense from one of my surprises since we first got married." Tenchi took   
another breath and instantly relaxed his body. Ryoko took this opportunity to   
draw herself tighter against his back and sigh happily.  
  
"That's better, my Tenchi," she murmured.  
  
While Ryoko seemed content to do nothing more than savor the   
proximity, Tenchi's mind was awash with a thousand memories, emotions,   
and pains that chose that moment to surface, each colliding with another in a   
struggle to keep his attention. All the thoughts, all the feelings he had kept   
to himself, fought down and locked away tightly from the world for the past   
thirteen years, were free and in need of resolution.  
  
"Ryoko-san?"  
  
"Yes, my Tenchi?"  
  
"Ryoko-san," Tenchi faltered, his voice becoming hesitant, "I-I don't   
where to begin. There are things I need to tell you... things... you need to   
know that no one else knows."  
  
Tenchi felt his body go numb as his mind struggled to put word to a   
decade's worth of emotion. Ryoko sensed the strain in Tenchi's voice, and   
gently turned his shoulder until Tenchi was almost completely facing her. His   
eyes were downcast, and his face a shade of pale. She took his chin with the   
tips of her fingers and raised his face upwards gently.  
  
'He looks almost no different,' she thought. 'All these years have   
passed, and he still resembles the beautiful twenty-one year old I married.'  
  
Tenchi's exposure to the power of the Juraian family had already had   
its effect on his physiology. Even though he had been alive for almost forty   
years now, his appearance had not altered in almost two decades, with the   
exception of the tiniest of sun lines in the corners of his eyes. Those eyes   
lifted to meet hers. Ryoko studied them carefully.  
  
'His eyes are different, though... They're older and more matured   
than I remember.' Ryoko nodded gently, encouraging Tenchi to speak.  
  
Tenchi drew a deep breath, dropped his gaze, and began. "When you   
died, everything stopped. Everything. Everyone around us dropped away   
from me completely, and I couldn't hear anything at all. All I could do was   
look at how peaceful your face was, relaxed and smooth. I-I waited for just a   
bit, I think, for you to wake up and smile, but I really knew it wasn't going   
to happen."  
  
Tenchi paused, his face growing an uncomfortable look. Ryoko   
moved her hand from his chin, wrapping it comfortingly around the back of   
his neck; she started to slowly massage it. Tenchi swallowed.  
  
"The only thing I could think of was how I didn't feel anything.   
Nothing at all. You were dead in my arms, and there was no pain, no   
sensation at all." There was another pause, and Tenchi remained still,   
breathing evenly.   
  
"It was as if... as if everything that was part of me had been pushed   
back far away out of earshot from my being." Tenchi's neck and shoulders   
relaxed and fell slightly under Ryoko's attentions. "I know I was in shock,   
but I also know I had one thought left to me. Tenchi-ken was still in my hand,   
deactivated. Still looking at you, I felt my hand lifting slowly, gradually   
pointing the sword towards my heart -"  
  
Ryoko froze deadly still, her mind racing but forming no coherent   
thoughts.  
  
"It would have only taken a thought," continued Tenchi, "not even a   
whisper to Tenchi-ken, and I could have joined you. And that made me   
happy. I-I know... I know, because the others around us saw me smile, even   
though they didn't realize what I was about to do." Tenchi paused.  
  
Ryoko hadn't moved. Every pore in her body screamed at her to do   
something, to react somehow to keep Tenchi from completing his story.   
Instead, she slammed her emotions down on the inside with a vengeance,   
pulled Tenchi in with her hand until their foreheads were touching gently, and   
waited. Tenchi closed his eyes.  
  
"I was so ready to die," he whispered. "No, that's not right... I was   
so happy to die. Everything was so peaceful and quiet. I still couldn't hear   
anything anyone else was saying." Tenchi opened his eyes. "And then, I   
heard Yui crying behind me."  
  
Ryoko, one of the toughest pirates in the galaxy, clamped her eyes   
shut and felt hot tears begin to course down her cheeks. "Yui... Tenchi... my   
family,' she thought. Ryoko kept her arms and body from trembling, waiting   
for Tenchi to finish.  
  
Tenchi drew in a ragged breath, and exhaled. "From that moment   
on, my life had two focuses. From the instant I heard her crying, Yui became   
the center of my life. Knowing she was here in this world, needing me more   
than ever with you dead..." He wrapped his arms around Ryoko slowly.   
  
"I had the greatest reason in the world to live, Ryoko-san," Tenchi   
stated, "but the pain began from that moment and never stopped." His voice   
quieted and became detached sounding, "Every morning, I'd pull myself out of   
bed, put on a mask, and face the day. And every day I tried to raise Yui and   
Mayuka the best that I could. I had the best help I could want, I know.   
Sasami and Washu helped be the mothers I could never be... They gave me   
the time to deal with the other certainty of my life - your not being with   
me -"  
  
Ryoko jerked her head up from Tenchi, eyes streaming and her face   
anguished.  
  
"Tenchi," she cried, her voice stricken, "I don't remember *any* of   
this! I-I closed my eyes for a moment, and suddenly I have a family who   
thought I was dead, a daughter who's almost an adult and won't be needing a   
mother, little Mayuka who is already grown, and my husband who has had to   
live so long without me, that m-my presence makes him uncomfortable and   
pained!"  
  
Ryoko's voice weakened so much, she became speechless. Tenchi   
drew her head under his chin and hugged her tightly.  
  
"No, no, beloved," Tenchi soothed, "your presence brings me nothing   
but comfort and joy."  
  
He held Ryoko, rocking her back and forth gently. Above them, two   
small clouds traversed along side each other in an otherwise cloudless sky,   
pushed slowly by a light summer breeze. Surrounding trees echoed the breeze   
along the mountain side, their thick, green leaves a whispering chorus of life.   
In this far distance, rumbling just over the movement of the trees, the sound   
of a passing aircraft came and went. Tenchi listened to all these voices,   
searching for the words that would relieve both him and his wife of grief.  
  
"I have been given a gift beyond price," he said, looking across the   
valley to the distant mountains. "That which I have loved more than my own   
existence has been restored to me. The joy your being my wife brings me, here   
and now, makes my head light and dizzy."  
  
Ryoko ceased her sobbing, but still cried quietly, listening with hope   
to every word Tenchi uttered.  
  
"But," he continued, "I *am* uncomfortable and afraid -" Ryoko   
stiffened. "- afraid that every time I see you walking towards me, just before   
our hands meet, you'll disappear and leave, this time forever."  
  
"T-Tenchi!" she stammered, raising her eyes to his face, "I-I...."  
  
"Shhhh. Shhhh. I know, beloved. I know." He stopped and kissed   
Ryoko lightly on the forehead. "We will be together for a long, long time, I   
promise you." He bent his head lower and gently kissed her on the lips.  
  
"Please be patient with me," Tenchi whispered, "there will be a day   
very soon when all the hurt of your absence will leave me, and I won't be able   
to remember what life was ever like without you."   
  
All the anguish gradually washed out of Ryoko, carried away on a   
summer breeze.  
  
"Oh, my prince."  
  
"Ryoko-san."  
  
In a feat that seemed to defy physics, Ryoko and Tenchi actually   
managed to tighten their embrace even further.  
  
***  
  
  
In the center of a dark laboratory, a petite figured woman with   
flowing, spiky hair sighed and relaxed back into her large and well padded   
chair. Being the greatest scientific genius in the universe didn't mean Washu   
was aloof to the comforts that a well designed chair brought. With her eyes   
closed, as they had been in the darkness for some time, Washu carefully   
stroked the long eared ball of fur sitting in her lap in the shadows. Minutes   
passed, with the only sounds coming from various devices whose purpose   
would be absolutely unclear to any visitor. Washu finally opened her eyes to   
the dimly lit work area around her.  
  
"It's not easy being linked so directly to the ones we love, is it?"  
  
"Mee-oow..." came a quiet affirmative.  
  
"Don't worry, Ryo-ohki," Washu comforted, stretching her spine a   
bit. "She's going to be fine. They're both going to be just fine."  
  
"Meow-meow," agreed the cabbit.  
  
Washu sighed again. She had tried to block out most of her   
daughter's thoughts in respect of her privacy, but Ryoko's emotions had   
simply over powered her in the end. They were emotions Washu had long   
since abandoned, and thought lost for good. Now, memories of another time   
and another life were surfacing on their own, shrouding Washu in a   
melancholy.  
  
"Do you think it's possible that I've been in dark laboratories by   
myself like this for too long, little one?" she asked quietly, absently   
scratching Ryo-ohki's head.  
  
Ryo-ohki paused for a moment, considering.  
  
"Meow."  
  
***  
  
  
In the glow of the sunset, two older men stood a few feet apart, facing   
a carved stone marker. Neither man spoke for a long time, each recalling their   
own images of other times and places, though both involving the same woman.  
The sun, glowing red and hazy, had just touched the top of the mountainous   
horizon when one of the men finally spoke.  
  
"It never became any less painful," Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki,   
mentioned slowly, "it just became more distant as the years moved on." A   
warm, early evening wind ruffled his graying hair.  
  
"No one should ever have to outlive their own child," Yosho agreed,   
his expression passively fixed on the marker. More moments passed, and   
Nobuyuki turned to look out across the valley in the twilight.  
  
"We did a good job, I think," he said.  
  
"Indeed, I believe we did well."  
  
***  
  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter Two:  
  
"As such, it is time for you to return to Jurai and once again assume all of   
your royal duties."  
  
Travel, Ryoko demonstrates her manipulative abilities, and sudden impacts!  
  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000.   



	2. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 2

  
Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC.   
As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other   
than my own enjoyment, because the thought of getting sued is rather   
unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo   
Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of fiction. Any  
resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence. Anyone  
who thinks otherwise is probably just itching for a fight. Also, please  
do not try and distribute this story in some lame attempt to make a   
buck; it would be bad karma to say the least.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I -  
I took the road less traveled by,  
And it has made all the difference.  
-- Robert Frost  
  
The road less traveled by is probably that way for a reason.  
-- Anonymous  
  
  
  
-* Chapter Two *-  
  
  
Did I mention that I am somewhat newly independently wealthy?   
Well, regardless of my current financial worth, I still fret a lot over how I   
spend my money. Being the product of my parents that I am, I was instilled   
with a "save now, play later" philosophy from an early age. As a result, I   
tend to be somewhat thrifty when I can help it. I am not one of those types   
who will drive twenty miles to save fifteen cents, but I am close. I even   
still clip coupons on Sundays before I go to the grocery store; I figure that   
little habits like that will allow me to 'play' longer.   
  
So, with this in mind, I was somewhat in shock over the costs of   
items in Japan. I can use hotels as a perfect example: if you've ever driven   
across the United States of America, you are aware that for about thirty five   
to forty dollars, you can get a decent and clean hotel room in just about any   
town, no matter how far off the beaten path you are. If you are looking for a   
little more comfort, you can spend about sixty dollars and get a fairly plush   
room for an evening from a host of hotel chains out there. And if you are a   
really big spender, one hundred dollars or more will get you something of the   
resort nature quite easily. In Japan, it's a bit different. For example, I   
was spending the equivalent of about sixty U.S. dollars a night to sleep in a   
Spartan Japanese equivalent of a European youth hostel. Anything even remotely   
more lavish would quickly have run me into the two hundred dollar range per   
night. Similarly extrapolate price increases to everything else in Japan, and   
you get a pretty fair picture of the cost of living here.  
  
Then again, I did not come to Japan to critique the economic   
differences from what I was used to. Actually, I was not exactly sure why I   
came to Japan. My official excuse was as I had explained to the lady in the   
airport; I simply was a tourist exploring a country for a few weeks.   
Observing my rather non-detailed schedule of things to see, however, I quickly   
realized that most of my destinations were old temples, shrines, and other   
natural or historic sights, some well off the beaten trail. I had allowed for   
a few days of rest in Tokyo, mainly to reset my internal clock and recoup from   
the stresses of air travel. I *was* terribly interested to see what a   
mega-city like Tokyo would be like, and I was not disappointed at all. In   
fact, how a city so large can keep its streets so clean mystified me entirely.  
  
However, I knew from the day I started planning my trip, I really   
wanted to see outside the big cities and explore the smaller towns and country   
side places. Perhaps this was to enjoy a bit of travel that was quiet   
enough to let me do some inner searching of myself, away from the brightly lit   
distractions that cities offer. At any rate, three days was enough to get my   
mind and body as one again and head out of Tokyo for the lesser populated   
areas.  
  
Heading anywhere in Japan usually means traveling by train or bus   
for foreigners and natives alike. After all, city traffic is very congested,   
renting a car is *very* expensive, and trying to understand traffic signs is   
all but impossible if you can not read kanji. Traveling by train and bus was   
much safer, I concluded, for both myself and the unfortunate motorist I would   
have probably ended up plowing into had I decided to rent a vehicle.  
  
I wound up purchasing a special, multi-use, extended duration train   
pass while I was still in America. For some reason the pass had to be   
purchased before I came to Japan, but once I started using it, I could not deny   
the practicality of train travel here. It was somewhat crowded while I was   
still in the city, but gained more elbow room as the train got away from Tokyo.  
  
A note of advice that I received from a frequent traveler to Japan:   
never, ever, under any circumstances, travel by train in Japan during national   
holidays, especially at the New Year. Everyone in Japan who can closes up   
shop and travels by train somewhere for the holidays. I can not vouch for how   
hectic it really is, but to hear it described, you would think people must be   
stacked in on each other length wise to accommodate all the holiday travelers.  
  
At any rate, this was *not* one of those times, thankfully, and I was   
making good progress out of the city. By late afternoon I had departed the   
train at one of the more 'remote' stations, and had eventually caught a bus to   
a smaller town some forty miles further away. I departed the bus at a town   
station, and proceeded to locate a tiny inn I knew to be in the area.   
Actually, I had made reservations at this tiny traditional looking inn weeks   
before. As small as this little operation was, they had their own English   
translated web page describing how wonderful it was to stay there. I wondered   
if I was the first foreigner ever to have made use of it. Maybe the owner was   
just a big fan of the Internet and made the page more for personal fun than   
anything else. I never bothered to find out.  
  
Making my way through the town, it took about forty five minutes to   
walk to the inn, toting my suitcase and backpack, but I managed to make it   
before the sun went down. Heading up the walkway to the inn, all the classic   
Japanese goldfish pools and tiny gardens surrounding the building were just as   
the web page had promised. Actually, the inn looked quite a bit larger on the   
Web than in real life, but John Wayne had a similar quality with regards to his   
apparent height in movies, so I figured it probably did not matter much in the   
grand scheme of things. Ignoring yet another in a series of little protests   
from a muscle in my lower back, I shuffled up to the inn's front door and went   
inside for the evening.  
  
***  
  
  
Ryoko was known to have, on occasion, something of a short   
attention span. In fact, she would be the first to admit that anything shiny,   
unusual, or having the slightest hint excitement would be enough to instantly   
yank her away from just about anything else she might be engaged in at the   
time. While marriage, motherhood, and reincarnation and definitely had a   
mellowing effect on her personality, Ryoko's eyes still frequently shone with a   
feral gleam on a regular basis whenever she felt a particular itch to satisfy   
some curiosity or agenda that intrigued her.  
  
That was why the onetime pirate/demon was moving about the   
kitchen just before lunch time with a look of calculated purpose on her face.   
Opening and closing numerous drawers, cabinets, and even the refrigerator   
several times, Ryoko proceeded to pack a decent sized wicker basket filled   
with food and drink. Outside, the sun was bright overhead, with plenty of   
fluffy clouds broken across the sky to keep the day from being uncomfortably   
hot. Ryoko stopped by the sink, leaned forward, and peered through the   
curtains outside.  
  
'Perfect,' she thought, 'this couldn't get any better if I had Washu   
generating the weather for me.'  
  
Thinking of her mother brought Ryoko up short, lips pursed.  
  
'It might not be a bad idea to bring Washu along,' she mused to   
herself. 'Certainly, if this is going to work, Washu could be invaluable as   
help.'  
  
The more she thought about it, the more the notion appealed to her.   
Ryoko looked over her shoulder from the sink to see her husband walk inside   
with a bushel full of carrots, a glassy-eyed Ryo-ohki trailing hot on his   
heels. Tenchi set the carrots down on a counter and eyed the wicker basket   
with a smile.  
  
"Here're the carrots you asked for. That picnic basket looks like a   
wonderful way to spend an afternoon," he said, looking outside. "Where are   
we spending it?"  
  
"*We* aren't spending it anywhere," Ryoko replied primly. "This is   
for Sasami, so she will hopefully climb out of whatever has been bothering her   
this past week."  
  
"Oh," said Tenchi thoughtfully. "I didn't realize she hadn't been   
feeling well lately."  
  
Ryoko turned and walked up to him.  
  
"That's okay, Tenchi," Ryoko purred, patting him on the cheek,   
"you've had good reason to be distracted these past few days, haven't you?"  
  
Tenchi turned a shade of red and raised his face towards the ceiling,   
scratching his chin in embarrassment. "Uh- yeah... so what do you want me   
to do with these carrots?"  
  
Ryoko leaned down and lifted up a carrot by one end, looking at Ryo-  
ohki who was firmly attached to the other half.  
  
"I want you to take *this* carrot fiend up to the shrine and make sure   
she's fully occupied for the next few hours." She eyed the cabbit. "This is a   
girls' afternoon out, so to speak, and I don't want Ryo-ohki interrupting   
things by encouraging Sasami to head off somewhere before we've had our little   
talk."  
  
Tenchi sighed, hefting up the bushel of carrots, "All right, then, I'll   
see what I can do."  
  
Ryoko phased out of sight and reappeared behind Tenchi, her feet not   
touching the floor. Her arms snaked around his shoulders and neck.  
  
"Don't think I won't be sure to reward you handsomely for this later,   
my prince," she crooned in her low voice.  
  
Ryoko let go of Tenchi, settled her feet back to the floor, and watched   
with a gleaming satisfaction as her husband teetered in a dazed manner out the   
kitchen door with Ryo-ohki in tow.  
  
"Aaaahhhhh!" exclaimed Ryoko, stretching her arms upwards while   
entertaining a number of pleasant scenarios of just how best to 'reward' her   
husband. She brought her arms down and crossed them, her brow scrunching   
up thoughtfully.  
  
'Guess I should see if Washu is up to a double team effort.'  
  
Ryoko blurred out of the kitchen and reappeared beside the hall closet   
door, the entrance to Washu's dimensional laboratory. Not stopping to open   
the door, Ryoko slid right through it, disappearing from the hallway.  
  
***  
  
  
Melancholy is a state of mind that self-perpetuates with ease, if   
allowed to run unchecked through a time of crisis or low self-esteem. Without   
much extra effort, a 'blue funk' can quickly lead to self-pity, an emotion that   
can be surprisingly comforting for a while. As a result, people who engage in   
such thoughts tend to view picking themselves out of such depressions with   
some distaste, because of the incredible effort doing so sometimes requires.  
  
In just such a state of mind, Sasami leaned forward and rested her   
forehead on the face of the mirror in her room. It felt wonderfully cool and   
serene, as if offering a reflective detachment for the taking. Sasami stared   
deep into one of her own eyes, looking in on reflection upon reflection upon   
reflection...  
  
"Who are you?" she mouthed.  
  
Her reflection didn't answer.  
  
This annoyed Sasami a bit. Of recent, she had been asking herself in   
various reflective media that same question over and over. So far, she had yet   
to receive any response, satisfactory or otherwise. She brought her hand up on   
either side of the mirror, and pushed her body away until she could see most of   
her entire figure in the reflection.  
  
An increasing number of years spent on Earth had slowly, but surely,   
had it's effect on Sasami in a variety of ways. Gradually, her traditional   
Juraian dress had been replaced by more current Earthly fashions. In fact, her   
favorite fare for working and living around the Masaki house was nothing   
more than a pair of jeans, comfortably broken in, and any number of varieties   
of simple blouses or tee shirts. Sasami certainly didn't mind modes of fine   
dress that regular princess duties called for (in fact, she two or three formal   
Earth dresses stashed away in her closet that she adored, even though she   
never had any cause to wear them), it was just that a simpler style of dress   
afforded her to forget for a time that she was a princess or maybe the   
incarnation of a powerful goddess. Sasami appraised herself again.  
  
She certainly was pleased with what she saw. Sasami was not self-  
absorbed about her looks as much as her sister, Ayeka, tended to be, but she   
was not ambivalent towards her natural beauty, either. The shape of her face   
and how it was framed by hair that fell in long, flowing strands down her back   
made just about any pair of old clothes she might be wearing absolutely   
alluring.  
  
"Not that anyone has ever stopped to notice," she grumbled.  
  
"Exactly *what* is it that none of us have ever stopped to notice,   
kiddo?" a voice queried from behind her.  
  
Sasami jumped out of her skin, spinning around to see Ryoko sliding   
through her bedroom door.  
  
Ryoko pulled herself fully into view, and with a feigned look of   
puzzlement, she brought a finger up to her chin and said, "Stopped to notice   
that you've been very depressed lately? Stopped to notice that you haven't   
been doing many of the activities you usually delight in while on Earth? Or   
maybe even stopped to notice that one of the people we care about the most is   
less happy than Ryo-ohki in a carrot famine?"  
  
"R-Ryoko-san, I just -" Sasami began.  
  
"Ah! Not to worry," interrupted Ryoko with an impish grin. "I   
promised you some time several days ago to talk about whatever it is that's   
bothering you, and I intend to honor that promise."  
  
She paused momentarily. "Truthfully, I have been rather occupied these   
past few days. Being married to Tenchi is a constant work in progress, and   
sometimes I just get totally engrossed in my efforts!"  
  
Sasami went several shades of red. Though she had been exposed to   
Ryoko's habit of freely discussing matters other people might consider rather   
personal, Sasami had never quite been able to keep from blushing a bit   
whenever Ryoko discussed her husband. Perhaps it had to do with more of her   
Ayeka's influence on her personality than she was willing to admit. This   
thought made Sasami frown just a hair.  
  
Ryoko picked up on it immediately.  
  
"Yep, you are definitely in need of some 'quality' time. Come along,   
princess," Ryoko ordered, grabbing hold of Sasami's hand and pulling her   
towards the door. "We're getting you out of this house!"  
  
"Wait! Where are we going?" Sasami demanded, as Ryoko began to   
slide both of them though the solid wood of the door.  
  
"Just for a walk, Sasami," Ryoko replied. "You'll enjoy it."  
  
***  
  
  
To say that Washu was uncomfortable setting a picnic blanket and   
laying out an afternoon lunch would be something of an understatement.   
While being a super genius did have any number of unimaginable benefits in   
life, somehow food preparation on a summer day in Japan was not one of   
them. For the first time that she could remember, Washu did not have a   
precedent for this exact scenario.  
  
It did not seem that it should be all that complicated, really, but   
something about this whole scheme, specifically setting a moment to help with   
Sasami's blue mood, left her uncertain. When an experimental device had a   
'blue mood', all you had to do was replace a few wires, microchips, or dark   
matter you pulled from a trans-dimensional interspersing ion storm. And   
those were the 'easy' problems to deal with. Machines, for the most part,   
lacked emotions, and therefore were not difficult to diagnose when a problem   
arose.  
  
Washu paused as she laid out some cheese and fruit. Perhaps the   
main source of her discomfort, aside from not having much experience with   
these 'picnic' things, was that she was not in control, was not the architect   
of the coming experiment. Her daughter, Ryoko, had stated from the outset,   
while barging into Washu's laboratory and dragging her away from   
monitoring a *particularly* interesting galactic dust anomaly, that the   
greatest scientific mind in the galaxy ("Universe!" Washu frantically   
corrected) was not in charge of this operation. Furthermore, when Washu had   
decided to whip out her virtual computer console, in order to best calculate   
the position for a picnic site based on available light, temperature,   
humidity, emotional stimulation potential, and a bird sneezing ten miles away,   
Ryoko had quite sarcastically let loose a small bolt of energy past her   
mother's head while suggesting Washu just 'wing it'.  
  
One would imagine, having observed Washu pull incredible   
technological inventions out of thin air on a regular basis, that 'winging it'   
would not be such a big deal for her at all.  
  
'On the contrary,' Washu thought to herself, 'how exactly does one   
improvise cheese and crackers without proper research, experimentation, and   
rigorous testing by use of the scientific method?'  
  
Washu developed a slightly sick feeling in her stomach.  
  
'Maybe I *have* been in laboratories for too long,' she fretted.  
  
In response to her thought, two puppets, each caricatures of Washu,   
appeared, one on each of her shoulders.  
  
"No, no, Washu!" puppet 'A' exclaimed, "You are perfect!"  
  
"Yes, yes, Washu!" puppet 'B' agreed, "Don't ever change!"  
  
Somehow, Washu doubted their sincerity. Basically, she realized in   
order to better understand interpersonal relationships and activities with   
regards to her own emotions, she would need extensive monitoring and   
observations of all sorts before developing an experimental plan of how best to   
proceed. The only problem was, since she would essentially need to be the test   
subject and the observer at the same time, an obvious paradox would occur as   
she could not make hypothesis based on observations of actions she had not   
made yet. She would have to be in two places at once. She would need at   
least two of herself to even *possibly* make this work...  
  
A very slow, creeping smile spread across Washu's face.  
  
"Washu! Washu! You are a genius!" cried puppet 'A'.  
  
"No one is as smart as you, Washu!" piped puppet 'B'.  
  
This time, Washu had to agree with them. Smiling to herself, Washu   
continued to lay out food in drink in the shade of an old maple tree, no longer   
thinking about little problems like picnics.  
  
***  
  
  
Ryoko had not spoken since she and Sasami had left the house and   
started their walk. They had been hiking for about ten minutes or so, just   
absorbing the life around them such as the trees sighing in the wind and birds   
tweeting here and there. Since Ryoko was leading the way, Sasami did not   
need to really pay attention to where they were heading, and she could afford   
to get lost in her thoughts again.  
  
Sasami shook her head distractedly. She had been 'getting lost' in   
her thoughts entirely too much the past week. Now and again, she would   
blink and find that she had been staring at something for minutes without any   
awareness to the passing of time, totally absorbed in a blank zone.  
  
'One way or the other,' she resolved, 'this has to stop.'  
  
The only difficulty was that, lately, zoning out was the best solution   
to the problems that Sasami had been able to come up with. She looked a few   
steps ahead of her where Ryoko was walking along at a fairly relaxed, though   
purposeful, pace. Sasami wondered how much she should let Ryoko know   
about her problems in life, both those immediate and those more abstract that   
seemed to follow her every day. She made an effort to look around her as they   
continued.  
  
'Maybe I should just confess everything to Ryoko,' pondered Sasami.   
'She's been through numerous situations like this... maybe she'll know what I   
should do. *I* certainly don't know what I should do. I wonder if being a   
pirate would have more perks than being a princess?'  
  
The trail they were traveling on exited a large stand of trees and   
emptied into a lush meadow. Flowers were everywhere, in hundreds of subtle   
shades of blue and yellow, just barely past the peak of their blossoming glory   
for the summer. The meadow grasses themselves were also somewhat past   
their prime as they were a little dry and crunched slightly underfoot.  
  
On the far side of the meadow, Sasami spied Washu sitting   
comfortably on a large picnic blanket under a maple tree, with a basket and   
several bottles and other items laid out about her. Ryoko and Sasami made   
their way across the meadow towards Washu, stirring up crickets and   
butterflies as they walked. An enterprising bird dove behind the pair,   
snagging several of the hapless bugs in the process for dinner. Washu looked   
up as the two approached.  
  
"Well, then," she stated, "I was beginning to wonder if the Universe's   
cutest scientist was going to have to enjoy this food and drink all by herself   
today. Happy the two of you decided to make it."  
  
Ryoko plopped down beside her mother. "Ya, ya, Washu. Not like   
it'd be the first time you'd spent the afternoon eating your lunch by yourself."   
  
Ryoko peered up at the clouds in the sky. "You have to admit," she   
continued, "this scenery is a whole lot more pleasant than your dreary lab."   
  
Sasami picked a corner of the blanket and gracefully eased herself   
down.  
  
"Hey, don't forget," Washu retorted, "you were *born* in a dreary lab   
like that!"  
  
"Hrmmmm, so *that's* what went wrong with me. Amazing."  
  
Sasami grinned a small grin in spite of herself. She could sense this   
was a set up from a galaxy away, but the banter between the pair of women   
and the location of the picnic was too much, even for the most downhearted of   
spirits.  
  
"Ahhh, there we have it!" Ryoko declared, pointing at Sasami, "the   
first legitimate smile I've seen on this princess's face in days." Ryoko   
turned and eyed a bottle of sake with interest. "I'm starved, let's eat."  
  
Washu nodded and started to serve some cheese, crackers, and rice   
cakes while Ryoko loaded several cups to the brim with the sake. Sasami   
blinked in surprise was she was passed food. She had expected Ryoko to force   
her to plunge right into her problems, and she had not expected to see Washu   
at all, much less with lots of food. Instead, Ryoko was doing nothing of the   
sort, but was handing Sasami a fully loaded cup of Japanese wine. She looked   
a bit uncomfortable with the cup in her hands.  
  
"Oh, don't tell me you've *never* had alcohol before," Ryoko   
drawled playfully.  
  
"Well... no, it's not that," Sasami said, "it's just that sister Ayeka   
disapproves of alcohol quite a bit, and there isn't much to be found in the   
royal palace."  
  
Washu raised her eyebrow at that. "Really? As I seem to recall,   
Empress Ayeka had no problems drinking her share of alcohol when she   
wanted to -"  
  
"Wanted to??" Ryoko sputtered. "That girl could almost drink *me*   
under the table." She sighed, "Actually, I'm not surprised. Lots of those   
'good girl' types tend to become over-angelic about things like this when   
they're a bit embarrassed over their own little misadventures with alcohol."  
  
Ryoko then downed her cup in a swig, exhaling loudly in process. "I,   
on the other hand say, a little drink now and again is good for the soul.   
Anyway, you wouldn't want to become just like your sister, eh Sasami?"  
  
That made Sasami blink in surprise. With a look of determination,   
Sasami tossed back her cup of sake. Immediately, her throat was on fire and   
she began to cough violently. Ryoko cheered loudly while Washu looked on   
with a smile.  
  
***  
  
  
It was hard to tell exactly how much time had passed. After a filling   
meal and more than a prudent amount of alcohol, Sasami had drifted into a   
lethargic state of consciousness, awake but with clouded thoughts. Indeed, all   
three of the women were in similar states of comfort, allowing the combination   
of sated stomachs and pleasant shade from the sun to lull them into a quiet   
peace. No one had spoken for quite some time, allowing an uncharacteristic   
calm, for the Masaki residence anyway, to settle.   
  
At some point Sasami had laid her head down in the comfort of   
Ryoko's lap, her long hair fanning out along the picnic blanket, occasionally   
rustled by a passing breeze. Ryoko's face was soft and relaxed, her eyes sleepy   
and half closed, as she absently stroked Sasami's head. Washu leaned up   
against the maple tree, her eyes closed, dreaming about whatever it is genius   
scientists dream of.  
  
Sasami lay powerless under the comforting strokes of Ryoko, her eyes   
watching the maple leaves gently sway above her. Now and again she would   
be able to spy a patch of blue sky and sun through the leaves for a moment   
before the wind moved the leaves again, obstructing the view. Only the sound   
of locusts singing in the distance gave clue to how warm it was beyond the   
maple tree's shade. The waving motion of the limbs and leaves of the trees   
worked its way through Sasami's haze and gave form to the emotions she had   
been wishing to express for days now.  
  
A thought dawned on her.  
  
'This is what Ryoko was trying to do,' she guessed, 'she set up this   
whole picnic so I could speak out on my own time- when *I* was ready to do   
so...'  
  
She peered up at Ryoko's face and smiled slightly.  
  
"None of you see who I really am," Sasami began.  
  
Ryoko continued to look out across the meadow. "Hrmm? What do   
you mean, Sasami?" she asked softly.  
  
Sasami looked back up at the leaves swaying, forming her thoughts   
before speaking again. "When you see me, Ryoko, you see Sasami, ne?   
Describe me. Tell me who you see."  
  
Ryoko paused her hand, resting it on the side of Sasami's head. From   
her position against the tree, Washu opened her eyes.  
  
"Uh," Ryoko said, "when I see you, I see Sasami, a young woman."   
Her eyes scrunched up thoughtfully. "I have to admit," she continued, "that's   
taking some time to get used to. I hear you coming up behind me, and I turn   
around expecting to see you the way I remember you, thirteen years ago, as a   
child."  
  
"Tell me... describe that child."  
  
Ryoko raised an eyebrow. "Well, she is sweet and full of happiness.   
Enthusiasm, too. Loves to cook - is up every morning almost to start   
everyone's day with a good meal."  
  
Ryoko closed her eyes and thought harder, trying to look beyond the   
obvious. "Sasami is the most heartfelt girl I have ever met. Always going out   
of her way to lift other peoples' spirits, always making my day brighter when   
she is near..."  
  
Ryoko opened her eyes and smiled, "... she is a royal princess of Jurai   
and the girl who helped raise my daughter to be the fine young woman she's   
grown into."  
  
Ryoko's voice fell silent, thinking of her daughter. Sasami took that   
moment to address Washu.  
  
"Tell me what you see, Washu," she insisted.  
  
"I see Sasami, sister of Empress Ayeka and a royal princess," Washu   
stated in a matter-of-fact analysis. "You are also the incarnation of Tsunami,   
possessing the potential for all the powers she once had. Though from the   
planet Jurai, you have spent most of your adolescence on Earth, helping to   
raise Mayuka and Yui."  
  
Washu stopped and smiled. "Soon, you will have obtained all the   
knowledge and abilities as Tsunami and develop into the powerful being you   
are destined to be."  
  
Sasami sighed almost in spite of herself. Rolling over on her side,   
she used her hands to push herself up out of Ryoko's lap and sat facing mostly   
away from the two women. She drew her hands together and let her   
shoulder's fall slightly.  
  
"Ryoko sees me as the happy-go-lucky sister of Ayeka she remembers.   
You see me as Tsunami. Yui and Mayuka look upon me as their aunt Sasami,   
while Tenchi sees me as a little sister. Even my own sister sees me only as a   
royal princess who must fulfill all kinds of duties, now that she is empress,"   
Sasami finished.  
  
"I don't understand," Ryoko admitted with some confusion, "you   
*are* all those things we've described, aren't you? I admit that I *remember*   
you as a little girl, but that's only because I never got to see you grow into   
the young woman you are now."  
  
Sasami nodded her head. "That's exactly the problem, Ryoko. I feel   
like no one sees who I've grown up to be. I know you've been gone for so   
long, but everyone else sees either little princess Sasami or Tsunami."  
  
She looked up from her hands and stared at Ryoko. "I-I feel that I've   
grown up and no one has bothered to notice... no one has bothered to see who   
*I* am. I'm *not* little Sasami that you remember..."  
  
She looked at Washu, "... and I'm *not* the Tsunami that you expect   
me to be. I'm not even an unquestioning, dutiful princess that my sister   
commands me to be.  
  
"All of these Sasami's you have described to me are what all of *you*   
see," she whispered, "but deep in my heart, even though I know I am these   
Sasami's... and even Tsunami... I'm not who you expect me to be."  
  
Sasami felt a frustration and a stinging in the corner of her eyes.   
"I've grown up into someone in between, someone unique, but no one sees me   
for who *I* am." Almost unbidden, tears were starting to well up in her eyes   
along with a torrent of emotion whose source she could not readily identify.  
  
Ryoko's eye's gleamed with a sudden insight. "Oh, Sasami... I think   
I understand."  
  
Washu blinked. "You do?"  
  
"Yes, Washu, I think I do," she affirmed. "Our dear Sasami has   
become a woman without ever having been given the chance to explore what   
that means, or so I would guess."  
  
Sasami looked at Ryoko with a hopeful expression while Washu   
crossed her arms with a non-comprehending look.  
  
"All right, all right, Washu, let me try to explain what I'm thinking,   
since that look on your face says you have no idea what I'm getting at." Ryoko   
turned and looked Sasami up and down.  
  
"When I died, you were still all those things I remember you being as   
a young Juraian princess, but then I was gone and missed you growing up.   
However," continued Ryoko, "from what I've heard, I can fairly guess that   
helping my Tenchi take care of the children, being a wonderfully supportive   
aunt, took up much of your time keeping you here on Earth a lot. And   
truthfully, that probably didn't bother you too much, did it?"  
  
Sasami wiped an eye and shook her head, "No, it didn't. Sister   
Ayeka was taking her control of the Juraian court and felt she had to be   
involved in everything herself with no outside help. There was nothing for me   
to do on Jurai other than stand behind Ayeka and her husband and look   
dignified."  
  
She looked up at the limbs of the maple tree. "I could have used   
aiding Tenchi, since he is part of the royal family, as a legitimate excuse to   
leave Jurai and my duties if sister had balked at the idea of me departing, but   
I didn't need to. She was so busy with court, but so wanting to support Tenchi   
and his children... I was the perfect substitute..."  
  
"-And that was your life, essentially, for the past thirteen years,"   
finished Ryoko. "As Mayuka and Yui grew older, though, they became more   
and more independent, didn't they? You and Tenchi and Washu probably had   
less work to do, I bet."  
  
"Actually," Washu interrupted, "the older Yui got, the more   
interesting she became. Yui took a definite interest in some of the things I   
was doing in my laboratory as well as piloting around Ryo-ohki from time to time."  
  
Washu then took on a slightly disapproving look. "Mayuka never has   
had much interest in science, though. Always drawing landscapes or watching   
old detective movies."  
  
"That's true," agreed Sasami, "but you're right, Ryoko-san, I did find   
myself with less to do. Yui was spending more and more time with after   
school activities and friends... Mayuka was just the same with her art... I   
still did plenty of things with them, just not the same way I used to." She   
wondered where Ryoko was going with this.  
  
"Well, then. I have to ask," said Ryoko, "how much of your free time   
did you spend exploring Earth? You had Ryo-ohki. You could have gone   
anywhere and seen lots of things."  
  
An uncomfortable silence grew as Ryoko paused and looked at the   
princess steadily. "You never left the mountains much, did you?"  
  
Sasami shook her head, and Ryoko sighed. "I don't suppose this had   
to do with your Juraian upbringing did it? Always confined to the palace,   
never meeting outsiders... you got to spend all this time on Earth, but you   
just didn't know how to get out and go."  
  
Sasami sighed and looked embarrassed. "It sounds like just an   
excuse, I suppose, but it's true. Anytime I wanted to go out, I'd travel to the   
local towns by myself and such easily enough, but I never really met or talked   
to anyone."  
  
Washu was not saying anything yet, but looked to rapidly be   
developing an idea of what was going on inside the princess's head.  
  
"I-I suppose I lived vicariously through Mayuka and your daughter,   
Ryoko-san," continued Sasami. "They would come home from school   
complaining about all their boy problems or talking about something they had   
done with friends... At night I would imagine myself in those situations, what   
I would do and say." The princess's eyes unfocused momentarily while   
recalling her memories.   
  
She blinked after a moment and said, "It made me feel good, I guess.   
I'd return to Jurai now and again, but there were few people there to talk to.   
Everyone just gave me the royal princess line, and every young nobleman who   
came to the palace at parties saw me only as a link to the empress by marriage,   
ignoring the fact that I *might* be a real person."  
  
Sasami snorted, "And, naturally, the fawning attention I got alienated   
me from the other noblewomen my age who weren't married yet. I suppose   
it's no real surprise why I enjoy staying on this planet so much."  
  
"Then we resurrected Ryoko, and the remaining pretense for your   
staying on Earth was gone," Washu gathered. "Yui had her mother back,   
Mayuka was already out on her own at college, and you suddenly realized you   
were grown up and didn't have your own identity yet. And to make things   
more difficult, all of us were still trying to fit you into the image or   
identity of the young Sasami or Tsunami, royal princess or goddess, neither   
of which really fits on its own anymore. That about sum it up, Sasami?"  
  
She bobbed her head up and down, "Pretty much, I guess."  
  
Ryoko snapped her fingers and stared at Sasami with feral eyes.  
  
"That's *not* pretty much it, is it?" she demanded with a small grin.  
  
"I-I don't know what -" Sasami stammered.  
  
"Oh, yes, princess! I'm afraid you let it slip at the end," Ryoko   
said, looking at Sasami's rather cornered expression with compassion. Washu   
leaned forward in interest.  
  
"Living vicariously through Yui's encounters with boys? Young   
nobles seeing you only as a marriage prospect? Sounds like your having man   
troubles, aren't you?" she asked, while smiling knowingly.  
  
***  
  
  
Together, all three women had picked up the remnants of the picnic   
and headed back to the house. Uncharacteristically, they left all the dirty   
plates and cups sitting on the kitchen countertop unwashed and forgotten the   
moment they arrived. Instead, Sasami led Ryoko and Washu up to her room   
and asked them both to wait while she fished an object out of a drawer.  
  
Finding what she was searching for, Sasami brought out what   
appeared to be a small cylinder of Juraian wood, not more than six inches   
long. Setting it on its side atop the dresser, she pushed an unseen button on   
the cylinder and stepped back. The piece of wood began to hum and glow a   
bit, suddenly splitting open a hair's width down its entire length. A light   
shone up from the wood, forming an image of Empress Ayeka.  
  
"A tiny courier ship delivered this a week ago," said Sasami.  
  
"Greetings, dearest sister, Sasami," began Ayeka. "I hope you have   
been enjoying your stay on Earth since my departure back to Jurai. Earth in   
the summer time is always so very pleasant, and I wish I could be there more   
often myself. Unfortunately, duties here on Jurai prevent me from such   
frivolous journeys, but such is the duty of a member of the royal family."  
  
An uncomfortable looked came over Sasami's face, as she knew   
already what was coming in the next part of the message.  
  
Ayeka's face shimmered slightly as a distortion affected the   
message's image, but she continued smoothly.  
  
"I feel it is time you, too, returned to Jurai, Sasami. You have spent   
most of your past years on Earth, neglecting you duties as royal princess.   
While I understand that your time was well and dutifully spent helping Lord   
Tenchi's household in its time of need, with Ryoko's rebirth and return to   
Lord Tenchi and Yui, it is obvious that you have been discharged from your   
obligations there. As such, it is time for you to return to Jurai and once   
again assume all of your royal duties. Additionally, it has been noted by a   
great majority of the court that it is time you fully considered a royal   
marriage with a suitable member of the nobility -"  
  
Ryoko's jaw dropped, and Washu raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.  
  
"- as you are the proper age for such a union."  
  
Ayeka paused and smiled brightly, "As you know, my child will be   
born in a number of months, causing an interruption to many of the duties I   
normally perform for a while. It is absolutely necessary that you be present   
to assist me in this time, Sasami, and a marriage with a suitable member of the   
nobility will strengthen your ability to deal with the court while I am   
indisposed."  
  
With the same bright smile on her face, Ayeka plowed on, "I have   
arranged for your ship and honor guard to arrive on Earth in less than three   
weeks after the arrival of this message. They will collect you promptly, so   
please be ready to leave at that time.  
  
"I can not *wait* to see you upon your return, Sasami," she beamed.   
"Please be sure to leave my fondest love for Lord Tenchi and his family, as   
well as Lord Yosho. Oh, and do not let them know of the wedding, yet. We   
will be sure to surprise them with royal invitations in a few months! Oh, my!   
That should coincide with your birthday as well, should it not? Truly, it will   
be a *wonderful* occasion. Be well, sweet Sasami!"  
  
Her image froze for a moment, but then the wood cylinder powered   
down and the image vanished. The cylinder quickly resealed itself, while   
three women stared in silence at the device for many moments.  
  
"I'm really not surprised -" began Washu.  
  
"I don't believe it!" Ryoko gaped.  
  
"-but," Washu continued, "I *am* rather miffed that her royal   
majesty didn't see fit to say hello to me. Oh, well. She never did fully   
appreciate my scientific genius."  
  
"WASHU!" yelled Ryoko, "Would you please try to focus on the issue   
here? Sasami is being forced to marry a complete stranger just so life can be   
a little more convenient for Ayeka! It's horrible!"  
  
"I will not argue that we are biased in favor of Sasami's feelings on   
this matter," Washu countered, "but, Sasami *is* a royal princess and *is*   
subject to Empress Ayeka's commands, correct Sasami?"  
  
Sasami nodded unhappily.  
  
"However, you could just as easily ignore Ayeka and exist in life as   
you please using your own natural talents as well as those assimilated from   
Tsunami, correct?" inquired Washu. "I'm betting, however, you don't want to   
ignore your sister, because doing so would force her to disown you from the   
royal family, and you aren't willing to do that, are you?"  
  
Sasami shook her head again. "No. I love my sister and my planet   
Jurai too much to force Ayeka to banish me from there for life. And since she   
apparently has made my return and availability for marriage a public   
proclamation, she would be forced to take some action against me if I refused   
to go. The court nobility would demand it of her."  
  
"Well, wait a minute," demanded Ryoko, waving a hand dramatically   
in the air, "isn't she the high and mighty empress of Jurai? If you convince   
her that you don't want to get married to one of these noble goons, wouldn't   
she just be able to proclaim that? Isn't her word law?"  
  
"It doesn't exactly work like that, Ryoko," Sasami disagreed. "The   
emperor or empress of Jurai does have in large part complete control of the   
empire, but the empire is supported by the noble families of Jurai. Without   
their support, Ayeka would essentially have a vote of no confidence, and her   
further proclamations would be worth very little. So in essence, she has to   
follow the will of the noble families to an extent."  
  
"And the will of the noble families is to see you married to one of   
their offspring, it seems," pondered Washu. "Certainly every family would   
want to have a closer connection to the royal throne. I'm amazed that they   
haven't bothered to encourage Ayeka for your return sooner."  
  
"They may have. I don't know for certain," confessed Sasami.   
"Ayeka may have held such demands at bay, citing my duties to Lord Tenchi   
as an excuse, but as she said, those obligations no longer exist."  
  
Sasami turned, walked to her bedroom door, and paused. "Also,   
when I have been able to get some prolonged sleep, I've had a few vague   
precognition dreams about my marriage. You all know that my dreams   
generally indicate the path of events that will occur around me."  
  
Using her hand, Sasami drew her fingers through her hair along her   
scalp.   
  
"I really can't see any way out of this, I guess," she said and left   
the room, leaving Ryoko and Washu to themselves.  
  
Ryoko quietly fumed for a minute before exploding.  
  
"I can't believe *she* would stoop to doing this to her own sister!   
It's so hypocritical, especially since she blew off the entire court to chase   
after Yosho for seven hundred years, and we all know what the court felt about   
him!"  
  
Ryoko lifted off the floor and shimmered out of sight, bent on   
releasing her anger somewhere less populated where the damage to property   
would be minimal. Washu watched her go impassively.  
  
"It does seem unfair to us," she spoke out loud to no one, "but I can't   
see what can be done about it."  
  
Washu sighed and looked at the wooden message device.  
  
"I'll be the first to admit that in the affairs of politics and love,   
science is oft times lacking in solutions."  
  
Shaking her head Washu left Sasami's bedroom and headed for her own   
laboratory to work.  
  
***  
  
  
With a mighty burp and a contented sigh, Ryo-ohki teetered off her   
feet and rolled over onto her side, her furry belly radically distended from   
the glutton of carrots she had consumed. Tenchi smiled down at the cabbit   
briefly before looking out over the lake and valley down below.  
  
'Looks like my work here is done,' he thought.  
  
Picking himself up from one of the shrine steps, Tenchi lifted the   
significantly heavier Ryo-ohki up and laid her gently in the bushel basket,   
picked the basket up, and headed down the steps towards the house. Yui   
would be home from school soon, and Tenchi always enjoyed meeting his   
daughter not far from the bus stop and walking home with her.  
  
Turning his head slightly, Tenchi thought he heard something like an   
explosion off in the far distance. He could not be certain, however, and   
decided it was just his imagination as he continued down the steps.  
  
***  
  
  
From my resting spot on a bench in the courtyard of the country inn, I   
looked up towards the mountains in the distance where a faint echo of what   
sounded like an explosion emanated. I was taking a break from my day's   
worth of wanderings around town as well as from the heat, and a bench in the   
shade seemed the best place to do so.  
  
"Almost sounded like a sonic boom," I said to myself in English.   
"Wonder if some Japanese pilots are having some supersonic fun."  
  
I had lived for a number of years in the flight path of a U.S. air   
force base, and to hear a sonic boom was a rare occurrence due to the   
annoyance it caused nearby residents. So if pilots wanted to break the sound   
barrier, generally they would try to do so in as sparsely populated an area as   
possible.  
  
An elderly woman who helped work at the inn heard my ramblings to   
myself and asked me politely what I was saying. I considered trying to explain   
my sonic boom theory, but did not have the confidence in my vocabulary to   
make such a statement in Japanese. Instead, I smiled and told her I thought I   
heard a noise, while pointing in the general direction of the mountains.  
  
The elderly woman nodded in agreement. "Every now and again,   
we'll hear a strange noise from off that way. No one knows what the noise is."  
  
The woman leaned towards me and said in a conspirator tone, "I   
think that it is the old demon turning over in its tomb."  
  
"Demon?" I asked, surprised. "There is a demon in the mountains?"  
  
The old woman nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes. Long ago a demon   
came to this part of the country and caused great woe, until it was banished by   
a powerful samurai and sealed in a tomb for all eternity. That's where those   
mysterious noises come from time to time, as I do declare!"  
  
I really dig these kinds of stories about demons and monsters and   
battles. Needless to say, she had me hooked, even though I perfectly realized   
it was just a story.  
  
"Wow, I'd love to see a tomb like that!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Oh," she said, "no one knows where the tomb really is, but there is a   
shrine up in the mountains dedicated to the memory of the battle between the   
demon and the samurai. It is called the Masaki shrine, and has been there in   
one form or another for as long as anyone can remember."  
  
I have often wondered at the way life works. There are infinite paths   
and possibilities at every moment for every decision you make. When you stop   
and think about it, given all the possible decisions you can make at every   
instant, it is really amazing that anything ever gets done, much less that   
simply spectacular events collide together to change your life forever. But, I   
get ahead of myself.  
  
At that moment I decided to ask for directions to the Masaki shrine   
for the next day's worth of travel. I had seen all the in-town sights, and a   
country trek would be a perfect compliment to the experience I had so far. The   
old woman excitedly gave me directions to the seemingly obscure shrine, and I   
wandered back into town to find a bus schedule that would take me somewhere   
near the area where the woman indicated the shrine was located. I was in   
luck, because a bus made its way near the area every morning at six thirty.   
Needless to say, I would have to get up earlier to catch the bus as it left this   
little town to get to that stop, so I decided to make for an early dinner and   
catch some sleep.   
  
In the center of town, a small celebration was taking place for some   
important event in the town's history that I didn't quite understand, but there   
were a few musicians playing in the small square. I made my way to a little   
restaurant and had dinner by myself, just absorbing the flute and drum music.   
Eating dinner out by myself has always brought me to a somewhat melancholy   
state of mind, so I began to ponder if I had led a mostly solitary lifestyle   
for too long. Twenty-eight did not seem that old to me at all to still be   
single, but I had to admit it would be nice to be able to share dinner with   
someone on a regular basis.  
  
At any rate, I chatted with a waitress for a little bit on and off   
about nothing in particular, managing to illicit a number of giggles from her   
as I mutilated the pronunciations of a number of words. She patiently   
corrected me in an amused fashion until she had to head off to take care of   
other customers. Another tip when you are traveling abroad: there is no   
better place to perfect your second language skills than out in public. You   
learn a heck of a lot more a heck of a lot faster than you ever will out of a   
book.  
  
I called it quits for the day fairly early, just as the sun was going   
down, as I had planned. Back at the traditional inn, I packed a number of   
necessities into my internal frame backpack, and left the rest neatly in the   
room. It had been my plan to use whatever hotel or hostel room I was staying   
in as a kind of base camp and explore outwards from there. It had worked   
well in a number of states back in America for me as a system, so I saw no   
reason to change my habits.  
  
I only planned to be gone for the day, but, as I have found out from   
time to time, things happen when you least expect them to, so it's best to be   
prepared. As a result, I packed some extra clothes and an incredibly compact   
thermal blanket, along with some more food and water, just in case I got stuck   
somewhere. After all, you never know when you are going to get knocked   
upside the head, as my mother used to say.  
  
***  
  
  
The next morning I awoke before daybreak, thanks to my trusty West   
German (made back when there *was* a West Germany) battery operated   
clock. Any clock the size of a pack of cigarettes that you can drop off a   
fourth story balcony, smash to bits, and then snap back together and still   
keep perfect time after ten years is a winner in my book.  
  
Nothing was open yet that would be serving breakfast in the inn, so I   
headed out for the town bus stop, snagging a cold soft drink and a candy bar   
along the way. Not exactly the breakfast of the gods, but anything was better   
than nothing at five in the morning. I jumped aboard the small bus just as it   
was warming up and getting ready to head out. The driver was a bit surprised   
to see anyone, much less a foreigner, hop aboard his bus so early before   
daybreak. At this time of day, the driver generally only picked up people from   
a few stops up in the surrounding mountains. I explained briefly that I was   
sight seeing and looking for a shrine or two, but he did not seem terribly   
interested, so I did not bend over backwards to chit-chat.  
  
As we drove out of town in a rather bumpy fashion, the sun started to   
warm the sky in the east. I did my best to stay awake and observe the   
surroundings as the day got brighter, but the morning twilight and the rocking   
motion of the bus got the best of me, and I quickly nodded off in my seat.   
Occasionally, the bus would hit a particularly nasty bump which would knock   
my chin up from my chest, startling me awake momentarily before I snoozed   
off again.  
  
Every fifteen minutes or so, the bus would stop and pick up a   
passenger or two along the road. I assumed they were people who lived up in   
the mountains who needed to get to town to do some business, though it   
occurred to me that they might all actually be commuters, doing this on a daily   
basis. At any rate, the scenery was beautiful, when I was awake enough to   
appreciate it.  
  
Around six thirty the bus pulled up before a well maintained path that   
seemed to disappear into the trees, heading towards one of the mountains. I   
believed that this was my stop, but I checked with bus driver just to make   
sure. He agreed with me and nodded in the direction of the path, and then he   
muttered something under his breath that sounded like "-late again-".  
  
Whatever he was referring to did not seem to involve me, so I just   
thanked the driver and stepped off the bus. Shouldering my backpack, I   
stretched up on my tip toes, extending my arms in the air and yawning loudly.   
I turned and looked at the bus, which was not going anywhere for some   
reason. Again, I did not think it had anything to do with me, so I turned and   
headed up the path a ways until I lost sight of the vehicle around a bend. I   
could still hear the engine, though, when I came to the foot of a large stone   
staircase that led up a small, steep ridge for about sixty or seventy steps.  
  
I realized quickly that this shrine was probably up on top of the   
mountain way above my head, and that these first steps were only a taste of   
what was to come. I 'sucked it up', so to speak, and started climbing steps.   
About halfway up the flight, I heard a honking coming from back behind me   
where the bus was. I stopped and looked back momentarily; I could not see   
the bus due to the trees, but I imagined it sitting there still waiting.  
  
"Someone regular passenger must be pretty late this morning," I   
surmised, looking out through the trees.  
  
Suddenly, I got a chill down the back of my spine, as if something   
very bad was about to happen to me very, very soon. I had just started to   
swing my head around to look up the remaining stairs when I heard:  
  
"Whoa!! Look ou-!" said a feminine voice just before I felt a violent   
impact against the right side of my entire body.  
  
There was a blur, and I was jolted backwards through the air with the   
steps approaching me rapidly from below. The last thought I had before I   
struck the stairs was my mother's warning about getting knocked upside the   
head. I impacted with an sickening 'thud', and at the same moment,   
everything went incredibly dark.  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter Three:  
  
"Well, at least I can *appear* to be happy."  
  
Washu gets to play doctor, everything gets fuzzy for Nathaniel, and fun with   
medical tape!  
  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000. 


	3. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 3

Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC.   
As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other   
than my own enjoyment, because the thought of getting sued is rather   
unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo   
Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of   
fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably just itching for a fight.   
Also, please do not try and distribute this story in some lame attempt   
to make a buck; it would be bad karma to say the least.  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
  
  
Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.  
-- Will Rogers  
  
  
  
-* Chapter Three *-  
  
  
The Masaki family had affectionately coined a phrase called 'Yui   
Time'.  
  
This was in reference to Yui Masaki's infallible ability to be at least ten or fifteen minutes late to just about everything. So whenever her family planned an outing or gathering, they always made sure to set their day to 'Yui Time' to allow for delays caused by her perpetual tardiness.  
  
Certainly, this morning was proving to be no different from any other as Yui was dashing about her room, grabbing books and clothes, desperately trying not to be late to catch the bus to school. With her hands completely full, she dashed out of her room, skidded on her heels around a corner, and sped downstairs into the kitchen. Sasami was already up making breakfast for the first time in several mornings, along with Yui's mother, Ryoko.  
  
"I don't suppose you're running late again?" Ryoko calmly inquired, in complete contrast to her frayed looking daughter.  
  
If you stopped and compared Yui to her parents, she was certainly her mother's daughter. Seventeen years old with similar long, spiky hair (only more blonde), she also shared her mother's general physique, except not quite so busty. Also, her eyes were more like her father's in color, and her pupils had more of a rounded shape, unlike Ryoko's narrow ones. Stopping to bolt some food Sasami offered her, as well as a glass of juice, Yui ran for the door, rammed her feet into her shoes, and all but tore the door off the hinges.  
  
Sasami smiled at the retreating figure. "Some things never really change," she said. "No matter what I or Washu ever tried, she's always been unable to make that bus on time."  
  
"It's a good thing her ability to throw energy bolts didn't develop until just recently," agreed Ryoko, "else she would have long since decided blasting that door apart is much faster than stopping to open it."  
  
"You wouldn't know anything about that sort of household   
destruction, would you?" Sasami grinned, sipping some tea.  
  
"I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to," Ryoko smiled back.  
  
***  
  
  
'Damn! Damn! Damn!' Yui grumbled to herself as she flew across   
the yard, her feet inches off the ground.  
  
At times like these, she really appreciated the talents she was   
developing from her mother. Her ability to fly down the path to the bus stop had been the only thing that kept her from missing that bus on any number of occasions. Zipping round a number of bends in the path, Yui saw up ahead up her the top of the last flight of stone stairs before the bus stop.   
  
"Why the heck did mother have to drop the house all the way up here in the middle of nowhere?!" she demanded. In the distance the bus driver impatiently laid on his horn.  
  
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Yui yelled as she raced to the top of the stairs, still flying, and careened down them.  
  
To late she saw the blur of a man facing away from her halfway up   
the steps. She knew instantly that she was going way to fast to avoid hitting him.  
  
"Whoa!! Look ou—!" Yui yelled before impacting hard into the   
man's right side.  
  
Yui bounced off the man, but managed to use her powers to break her fall right before she smacked into a tree. The stranger was not so lucky as he soared out over the steps and, as gravity reasserted itself, seemed to hit his head and shoulder on the stones with a sickening noise. Yui straightened herself with a groan, taking stock of the bruise she imagined to be rapidly forming on her left shoulder from the impact. Looking down at the young man, she swore.  
  
"Oh, dammit all! I bet he's dead or something!" Quickly, Yui   
calmed her mind and sent out for help.  
  
Mother!  
  
What is it, dear? Are you okay? came Ryoko's thoughts.  
  
I'm fine, Yui replied, but I ran into some man on the steps right above the bus stop, and knocked him clean off his feet. I think he's hurt.  
  
Through the trees her bus honked its horn again.  
  
Oh, damn! I'm going to miss the bus! she wailed.  
  
Go on! Go on! came her mother's voice. Leave him there. Your   
aunt Sasami and I will be there in a minute or two to scrape him off the pavement.  
  
Thanks, mom! sent a very relieved Yui, as she gave the unconscious stranger a last apologetic look before flying down the rest of the stairs for the bus.  
  
Oh, and Yui?  
  
Yes, mother?  
  
Try not to kill anymore pedestrians today while you're flying, would you dear?  
  
Yeeees, ma'am.  
  
***  
  
  
Ryoko arrived on the scene first, less than ninety seconds after Yui's impact with the stranger. Shimmering out of the thin air above the man, she dropped to the stairs and gave him an initial inspection.  
  
He was laying face down with his head below his feet, and there was some blood that appeared to be coming from a small gash on his forehead His shoulder was also pushed into one of the stairs at an uncomfortable looking angle. Noting the man's backpack and hiking boots, she guessed he was some day hiker rambling about the mountains. Ryoko began trying to unsnap the his pack straps when Sasami reached the top of the stairs with a little first aid kit.  
  
"Oh, geez," she puffed, "I have *got* to get the hang of how you and Yui can fly around like that." Stopping to catch her breath, Sasami asked, "is he okay?" She descended the remaining stairs until she reached them.  
  
"He's seems to be unconscious, and he has a cut on his forehead,"   
Ryoko reported. "Might have a dislocated shoulder, too, but I can't really tell. Here, help me get his pack off so we can turn him right side up."  
  
Sasami got down besides Ryoko and began working on the straps.   
"You don't suppose he's a hiker, do you?" she asked as her strap came free.  
  
"Looks like it," Ryoko grunted, frustrated at her failed efforts to her strap undone. "Oh, well," she said, a bit of energy flashing in her hand, "he'll have to forgive me for doing this to his pack."  
  
Using her tiny energy ball, Ryoko sliced through the uncooperative strap and removed the backpack from the man. Setting it aside, she gently rolled the young man onto his back while Sasami orientated his legs down so they were no longer sitting uphill from the rest of his body. Ryoko looked at the man's face briefly before inspecting the gash.  
  
"Yep, he has a little cut on his forehead." she stated. "Hey, take a look at this, he's not Japanese."  
  
Sasami turned from his legs and looked at his face. Staring at the young man, Sasami felt something inside her akin to vertigo, and she simply sat and stared with a slightly bemused expression on her face.  
  
"We need to stop the bleeding on that gash, first," Ryoko continued, "head wounds always seem to bleed like crazy, no matter how small they are."   
  
She held out her hand to Sasami for some bandages from the first aid kit. "Hand me a couple bandages, would you, Sasami?"  
  
Not getting any response, Ryoko turned and looked at her partner.   
  
"Hey, Sasami? Oi! Snap out of it, kiddo, you can stare dreamily at him later."  
  
"R-right," she stammered, getting Ryoko her bandages from the first aid kit.  
  
Ryoko blinked in surprise; she had meant her comment completely in jest and was quite surprised at Sasami's reaction to it. A quick grin flashed on her face in recognition as the hint of an idea began to take shape in the back of her mind. Her expression dropped back into a feigned seriousness as Sasami faced her again, passing over the dressings.  
  
"Here you go, Ryoko-san," she said, blushing while trying not to stare at the stranger's face too blatantly this time.  
  
Ryoko grinned inwardly as she began to clean away some of the blood running down the side of the man's cheek.  
  
'This could be very interesting,' she thought. As she continued to clean him up, Ryoko further examined the man.  
  
'Not bad looking. Definitely a westerner, maybe from America,' she pondered. 'Poor Sasami was so struck, her mouth was actually hanging open.'  
  
Ryoko chuckled in spite of herself.  
  
"Uh, something funny, Ryoko-san?" Sasami asked nervously.  
  
"Oh, no, nothing," Ryoko evaded, compressing the wound with one   
dressing while finishing cleaning up his face with the other.  
  
"See if you can take a look at his shoulder, there," Ryoko indicated, changing the subject. "It looks like it's starting to bruise."  
  
Sasami moved around the steps to the other side of the man's body, peeled the neckline of his shirt back, and peered at the skin on the shoulder.  
  
"Yes, it's scraped up kind of bad, and it's definitely started to bruise," she reported.  
  
Ryoko nodded as she replaced the compression bandage with a fresh   
dressing, and applied medical tape to hold it down. "We're going to have to move him up to the house at the very least, I think."  
  
"I agree," nodded Sasami. "How are we going to move him? Shall I run get Tenchi and Yosho to help?"  
  
Ryoko considered it for a moment before getting an idea.  
  
"Hang on a minute. How about some of those new abilities you've   
been experimenting with? Tsunami could levitate things around easily."   
Ryoko looked directly at Sasami with an unwavering gaze. "I think we should give that a try."  
  
"Well… I suppose we could, but—"  
  
"All right then," Ryoko cut her off. "You concentrate on top half of him, and I'll keep his lower half up off the ground. That way we can keep him level and comfortable all the way back to the house."  
  
Ryoko looked down at the stranger. "We'll have Tenchi come down   
and retrieve his pack later. You ready, Sasami?" Sasami nodded with a touch of hesitation, and began to concentrate.  
  
Ryoko, too, began to concentrate, but was ready to levitate the young man much faster than Sasami. In truth, Ryoko could have raised him all the way back to the house without even breaking a sweat, but she was more interested in doing everything in her power to help Sasami accept herself for what she was.  
  
Ryoko waited for Sasami, watching as the princess's hair flared out slightly from the energy. "I'm ready when you are, Sasami."  
  
"I'm ready now, I think," nodded Sasami. "Let's do it." Together, they gently levitated the stranger up off the stairs and began walking him up the path back towards the house.  
  
"Okay," assured Ryoko, "we'll just walk him back to the house. He's still unconscious, so he shouldn't have any memory of our little supernatural rescue service."  
  
Sasami looked up from her concentration. "That's right, we don't   
want him to get suspicious about things, do we?"  
  
Ryoko shook her head, "No, we don't. I'll be sure to warn Washu   
and Tenchi to be discrete and careful, but if Mihoshi decides to land another Galactic Police cruiser on the house, we might have difficulties explaining it   
away."  
  
Sasami, a small bead of sweat appearing on her brow, nodded in   
fervent agreement.  
  
***  
  
  
Dressed from head to toe in her perfectly cute nurse's outfit, Washu leaned back from the bed where the stranger was laying, still unconscious. Consulting her virtual console, she peered at a number of readouts intently.  
  
"Well," demanded her daughter, "is he all right?"  
  
Washu nodded. "It seems that he has nothing more than a nasty cut on the head and a mild concussion. As for the injury to his shoulder, it appears to be a bad bruise as well as a few lacerations from impacting with the stairs, but there are no broken bones, and his shoulder is not dislocated."  
  
Sasami breathed out a sigh of relief. "Well that's something. Now we know we don't have to call out to a hospital for an ambulance."  
  
Ryoko smiled at the princess. "Indeed, that would be terrible if he had to leave before you even got to ask his name, wouldn't it?" She was rewarded with a rosy blush from Sasami's cheeks.  
  
Washu looked up at the pair of women with a raised eyebrow. "Am I missing something?"  
  
"No, not really," Ryoko shook her head. "Speaking of names, he   
should have some identification in his pockets, eh? Let's take a look."  
  
Ryoko fished around through the man's jeans, which were still being worn. His shirt, torn from the fall and stained with blood, had been given up for lost and thrown in the trash. Tenchi, after having retrieved the backpack from the stairs, reported that there was, among other things, a change of clothes that the man had brought along with him.   
  
"Here we go!" exclaimed Ryoko, locating his wallet. "Yep, he's an American, that's for certain." She peered intently at the license for a moment, trying her best to sound out his name in English. "Nat-han-el…. Swann, I think. I've never really bothered to absorb much of the English language while I've been on Earth, so I can't be certain."  
  
"Nat-han-el," Sasami mouthed. "It's an odd sounding name."  
  
Ryoko nodded, "I'm probably pronouncing it wrong. I'll do my best to tap into Ryo-ohki's language database and see if I can't learn enough to do better by tomorrow. You should be able to do similarly, Sasami, if you want."  
  
Sasami nodded and turned to Washu. "How long do you think he'll   
remain sleeping like this, Washu?"  
  
Washu closed her virtual console, and it disappeared.  
  
"Hrmmm. Probably no more than a day, though I can't be certain.   
He's brain is fairly annoyed at being knocked around like that and is likely to remain shut down for about that long." She looked over her patient. "Just let him sleep. He'll wake up sooner or later."  
  
Washu pulled the covers up from his waste to cover his bare torso.  
  
"It's a shame to cover that chest, but I don't want him catching a chill," she giggled. She turned and left the room, leaving Sasami watching the young man breath softly.  
  
Ryoko smiled in spite of herself and left the room as well.  
  
'It's hard to believe,' she thought, 'that I had a similar confused expression on my face after just meeting Tenchi for the first time.'  
  
Ryoko thought a bit about the vague plans still forming in her head.  
  
'I certainly don't want to try to be as manipulative as Ayeka in a matter like this, but maybe I can help nudged Sasami in a good direction. He looks like a nice young man. We'll see what he's like when he wakes up.'  
  
Ryoko turned a corner and grinned viscously.  
  
'If he turns out to be not so nice, I can always drop him off   
somewhere in the Pacific!' she giggled, and went looking for her husband.  
  
***  
  
  
Enthusiasm had quickly turned to incredulous self-berating as Sasami went hunting for Ryo-ohki to access the little creature's databases. As she came down the stairs a few minutes after Ryoko, Sasami stopped to consider why she was in such a hurry. Eyebrows scrunching in thought, the princess stopped her hunt for the cabbit and decided to plop down on the living room sofa, instead. Snagging a hold of the television remote control, Sasami activated the device and began channel surfing.  
  
One after the other, various programs ranging from the uninteresting to downright irritating flashed by. All Sasami was looking for was a mindless distraction that would allow her to try and ignore all the confusion spinning about her noggin. Thanks to Washu's insatiable need to tinker and 'improve' things, the Masaki residence television was hooked to a small dish on the roof of the house, which was pointed to a distant satellite overhead. As a result Sasami had over eight hundred channels to chose from, but she still was unable to find anything worth watching. Every time she paused on a show that looked like it might have some potential for distraction, it ended up being so annoying that her irritation soared. Finally, she struck gold.  
  
'The Weather Channel!' she sighed in relief. 'This has to be the   
most mind numbing channel in the universe.'  
  
Sasami settled back into the sofa, absorbing the maps and forecasts scrolling across the television screen. It did not really matter that this broadcast was coming from North America and that she hardly understood a bit of it, she could still figure out what was going on as the weather girl pointed to swirling cloud masses in time lapse loops. As the forecasts continued, Sasami found her thoughts had settled enough to apply something resembling rationality to the days events.  
  
'Ryoko and Washu were laughing at me,' she concluded to herself.   
'And, gee, what a surprise. My mouth was probably hanging open like a little   
girl.'  
  
The thought made her teeth grind.  
  
'Why should I expect them to treat me like an adult if I act like a girl when some hurt stranger walks through the door. I don't even know *why* I reacted that way. It's not like I'm even interested in anything like that, especially since I'm leaving in two weeks for Jurai.'  
  
A smile grew on the princess's face as she tried to rationalize her actions. 'It must have just been surprise at seeing an American around here. I'm sure that's it.'  
  
"You're smiling again, Sasami," commented Washu, "keep that up   
and people might start thinking you *are* happy."   
  
The scientist had removed her nurse's clothing and was garbed in her usual fare. She settled down on the opposite end of the sofa.  
  
"Oh, Washu!" jumped Sasami. "You could be right, I suppose. That wouldn't be a bad thing, though. I actually feel better having talked to you and Ryoko about it all."  
  
Washu nodded, "Yes, discussing your problems generally seems to be comforting to most people. I have to give credit to my daughter for that whole picnic idea."  
  
"I figured it was a set-up."  
  
"I'm not surprised," agreed Washu, "we weren't trying to be   
cunning."  
  
A thought occurred to the scientist.  
  
"I was meaning to ask you, by the way, when you found the stranger on the steps injured… why didn't you just use your healing talents to fix his wounds? Tsunami had done far greater feats of healing in her past, surely you could have fixed a few cuts and scrapes."  
  
Sasami nodded, "I know I could have, Washu. It's something I've   
given a great deal of thought to over the years, really. I think that the usage of my powers to heal someone is in itself a disrupting act."  
  
Washu looked curious.  
  
"A disrupting act?" she echoed.  
  
"Yes. Oh, how can I explain this?" Sasami muttered. "Let's say   
someone has an injury or illness and I come along to heal them. Already, the person's body is reacting to the injury or illness in many complex ways before I get there to repair the damage or fight the illness. So, when I do arrive and heal the person, the immediate injury is taken care of, but the body is still in a mode where it's trying to repair itself."  
  
Sasami pointed the remote control at the television and switched it off. "It takes a while for this process to stop, and I believe that some bad side effects which damage the body may take place until it does. Also, where does the energy I use to accelerate the healing process come from? I channel the energy, but I think most of it comes from the injured person's own body, which could also have a weakening effect on other bodily functions."  
  
"Conservation of Energy Theory," Washu pondered. "Energy is   
neither created or destroyed (much), it only changes form, and it mostly comes from somewhere or someone besides you when you heal, right?"  
  
"I think so. At any rate I feel in the case of some scrapes and bruises, even a mild concussion, it's better to not interfere with the body's own system of healing." Sasami put the remote control down. "It's just a theory, really. I don't have any real evidence to support it, just my feelings."  
  
"Hey, now," interrupted Washu, "do not discredit feelings. They're often the first step in solving a scientific mystery! Sometimes, when you don't have any other information available, those first instinctual feelings are the best things to go on."  
  
Washu paused a moment. "Of course," she grinned, "those first   
feelings have led me to create any number of devices that have exploded   
magnificently the first time used, but nobody's perfect."  
  
"Best things to go on…" mouthed Sasami.  
  
She smiled suddenly. "Thanks, Washu!"  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Oh… well, before you sat down, I was planning on glumly accepting my fate for the next two weeks and moping about until the royal escort comes."  
  
The smile faded just a touch. "I'm still way less than thrilled," the princess admitted, "but I figure I should spend the time on Earth doing *something* and enjoying myself as much as I can before I have to leave."  
  
"Really?" countered Washu. "Would learning a few key phrases in   
English be a part of that little something?"  
  
"I don't see how it could hurt," Sasami replied innocently.  
  
Washu smirked. "I bet."  
  
Another thought occurred to the petite redhead. "Say, Sasami, about those precognition dreams you sometimes have. Do they always come true?"  
  
Sasami shook her head. "No, as a matter of fact, they don't. Well, I mean, the general shape of the event often occurs, but not always with the outcome I dreamt about. I don't think that the future is that easy dictated, and there are so many events that can take place before the event I dream of actually happens… It's like, if I make a decision that seems to be counter to the direction of the dream, something different will happen, though the magnitude of the overall change is impossible to foresee until the event actually occurs."  
  
"I see. So, if you decided to jump planet right now and avoid going to Jurai, you think somehow you would end up there eventually, just not in the exact way you dreamed about?" asked Washu.  
  
"Something like that," agreed Sasami. "Perhaps in chains instead of a royal escort, though I have fortunately not had any dreams like that. Some disturbing ones, I have to admit."  
  
"Really," inquired Washu, "like what?"  
  
"Um," began Sasami uncomfortably, "I've had this one part of a   
dream where Tenchi abandons me when Ayeka forces me to marry on Jurai.   
It's not at all pleasant as dreams go." She made a face.  
  
"I can see how it wouldn't be," Washu commented.  
  
***  
  
  
A lot of things were hurting pretty bad, and it was very difficult to self-diagnose the sensations. For some reason all the pains were coming from the right side of my body. This in itself was disconcerting as, once upon a time, I was the sole participant in a rather spectacular downhill cycling accident, resulting in a good deal of skin on the right side of my body being removed in one fashion or another by the pavement. The interesting thing about that accident is that I can not, to this day, remember anything about the crash itself. The last thing I remember was getting peeled off the road by some men from a landscape truck that had almost run over me after I wrecked.   
  
I tried to open my eyes to get some kind of bearings. Unfortunately, the felt like they were glued shut, and most of my brain felt the same way. I did have the presence of mind to perform the 'panic check', however. I have knocked my front teeth out a few times from some sensational accidents, and as a result I am rather sensitive about tooth damage. In any situation where I think I have been hurt in any fashion, the first thing I do invariably is take my tongue and hunt for my front teeth.  
  
They were still there.  
  
I instantly relaxed a great deal once I had my teeth accounted for. My bones can be broken, my skin can be ground up like cheese, but as long as my teeth are okay, everything will be all right. I tried to open my eyes again, and this time I got a little further.  
  
Where ever I was, it wasn't terribly bright. Nothing is worse than waking up, injured, under those really bright lights a lot of emergency rooms tend to fancy; the pain is usually worse than whatever sent you there in the first place. Either I was in a dark room, or it was nighttime. Needless to say, I was in someone's bed, and I didn't recognize the feel of it. It was not the bed I had been sleeping in the past two nights back in town, so perhaps I was in another hotel? That did not make too much sense, since I had not left the town except to go visit a shrine or two.  
  
That line of thought brought a bit of my memory back, like a replay you don't recognize at first, but it becomes more clear the longer you watch it. I remember getting off a bus, walking up some stairs, and then getting blind sided by something moving very fast.  
  
I groaned a little bit, closed my eyes again, and tried to think some more. My head REALLY hurt right above my eye. I think my shoulder hurt as well, but it was hard to tell as it did not really want to function when I commanded it to. Resigned to whatever Fate had in store for me, I cranked my eyes back open again and turned my head over to inspect the damage. That did not do me too much good, because it was rather dark and everything had a blurry feel. I did panic a bit then as the realization I was not wearing my glasses hit me.  
  
Let me explain something about glasses, for those of you who either do not need them, have only a very slight stigmatism, or wear the silly things for fashion. There is a segment of the population out there, for which I am a part of, who need glasses to do everything, short of avoiding smacking into parked cars or small boulders, while walking around. I can function without them, it just limits my world incredibly. If you ever want to know what it is like to be near-sighted (that is, have only clear vision up to about five inches away from your face), take a pair of binoculars, make the focus really bad, and stare through them while you try to navigate around your house or outside.   
  
Essentially, detail without glasses for me becomes non-existent,   
unless it is in those five inches from my nose (at which distance, both eyes can not really focus on the object well at the same time, making for more troubles). It is ironic, really, because my eye problems began when I was six, as I constantly read lots of books with the pages no more than those few inches from my face. Suffice to say, if I do not have ready knowledge of the location of my glasses, I get a bit agitated. On a few occasions in my life, I have been so absent minded as to forget where I laid my glasses the night before that I have had to ask someone to help me find them. That is extremely   
disconcerting, especially when you depend on them for a great deal of your   
life.  
  
So, naturally, I decided to sit up and look for them, just for my peace of mind. That was a huge mistake as the minute my head lifted off the pillow, I got a nauseated feeling like I was spinning violently and sank back to the bed.  
  
I made a mental note not to try that again.  
  
The left side of my body was feeling chipper, as usual, so I slowly brought my left hand over and lightly touched my face. There were a few scrapes and scratches there, I could tell quite easily. Something more significant was hidden on my forehead, too, since there was a rather thick bandage taped to my head. I decided to leave it alone and move past my shoulder all together. It felt very sore and heavy, as if it were best left alone. My right arm and hand seemed fine, with just an itch or two here and there indicating a laceration or scrape. I left my left hand slide back to its original place, and I closed my eyes.  
  
I had not planned on doing so, but I instantly fell back into a   
dreamless sleep.  
  
***  
  
  
Whether it was the flurry of activity earlier in the day, or the   
concentration that had been required to absorb the elements of the English language from Ryo-ohki's database, Sasami had fallen asleep not soon after calling the day quits. For quite some time, she drifted along in a still slumber, not stirring at all except for the movements of an occasional finger twitch or her regular breathing pattern. Sometime in the dead of the morning, however, a dream began to filter through the stillness.  
  
At first, Sasami was quite aware of being somewhere dark, where   
everything around her was a flat, totally reflective surface stretching out to the horizons. In fact, she could not be certain where the dark horizon ended and the sky began; it was all the same, yet distinct in some unfathomable way. How long this scene remained, Sasami could not gauge very well. She might have been there minutes or years as a sense of time when dreaming is sometimes hard to come by. At some length she was suddenly aware that she was looking at herself, on the same featureless, dark plain, from a small distance away. She saw herself standing calmly, as if waiting for something to occur, but not really concerned with what that might be.  
  
Eventually, two bodies began two swirl around the image of Sasami slowly, forming as wisps of dark fog at first, then materializing into the forms of two men. The part of Sasami that was observing the scene, just as detached as the image of Sasami standing, could not make out the images of the men at all, except that they were facing outwards, diligently circling the princess all the while. For some reason the actions of the two mysterious men had a soothing effect on the sleeping Sasami. The dream was emotionless for her to begin with, but the images seemed to relay that there was no need for any concern, or alarm.  
  
Presently, more forms began to materialize around the standing   
Sasami and her two enigmas. As she watched herself from her disembodied position, the forms began to shape themselves into man-like bodies, only more numerous and circling Sasami's body in a direction counter to that of the first two men. Again, Sasami felt nothing more than an emotionless detachment, but now the feeling of safety was somehow dissolved.  
  
Ever so slowly the shadowy forms encroached upon the two   
unidentified men protecting Sasami's body. And protecting her they were, Sasami realized from outside the action. The numerous shadows had drawn long, hazy blades of energy and were slicing at the two men each time they passed. With an increasing speed, the circling of the shadows became so fast that it was no long possible to distinguish them from one another. The two faceless men parried and stuck with an equally dizzying speed with their own indistinct weapons, but were being steadily pushed back towards Sasami's still expressionless body. It was apparent, though the dream, that one of the two men was weaker than the other, and his efforts to stave off the circling attacks becoming more and more laborious. His partner, though holding his own well against the shadows, could no more land a solid strike on any of them than had he been trying to hit the moon in the sky.  
  
Eventually, the weaker of the two warriors was struck once, then   
several times more in quick succession. Staggering to a knee, several of the shadows broke from the tightening ranks and stuck the man down further, until he collapsed completely and did not return to his feet. At this time the remaining man, still having defended himself so far, was quickly overwhelmed. After a brief and violent flurry of shadows, his body struck the ground as well.  
  
'And yet there is no sound,' Sasami seemed to think in her   
disembodied form, 'not even a whisper of wind or motion.'   
  
Still emotionless despite the fall of her protectors, the shadow   
attackers circled upon Sasami's undefended body, reaching out with phantom hands, grasping for her clothing and her arms. With the distance finally closed, at least twenty hands seemed to reach out and secure some part of her body and hold her firmly. Then, with a deliberate slowness, all the hands pulled her body in a dozen different directions, outwards, until she split apart into vapor with a bland expression still on her face. The scene fell away into darkness as the shadows leisurely melted away in the black.  
  
Sasami opened her eyes and observed the ceiling of her bedroom.   
She had not moved at all thought the entire night and remained unmoving, despite the sickening emotions the dream was now beginning to lay upon her. Shivering slightly, Sasami recognized that she was completely drenched in sweat and beginning to chill. Rolling stiffly out of her futon, she padded out of her bedroom shivering and entered the women's bathroom. Relying only on the moonlight streaming in dimly from the clear protective dome above, she found a hot spring bath, her hands starting to tremble as she fumbled to ease herself into the steaming water in the darkness.  
  
Sasami got into the hot spring, clothes and all, and crouched down, hugging her knees to her chest while trying to absorb any kind of warmth.  
  
***  
  
  
It was getting definitely uncomfortable, wherever I was. Despite my best efforts to avoid it, there was a blinding light that seemed to surround me at ever position. Giving in to the realization that I was not going to be able to forcefully prolong my sleep any further, I opened my eyes owlishly.  
  
"Good morning," a man's voice said in Japanese. "How are you   
feeling this morning? Can I get you anything, a drink or something to eat?"  
  
Rolling my head on the pillow towards the direction of the voice, I made out a blurry figure with what appeared to be dark brown hair. Smacking my lips softly, I tried to work out the cottony feeling that seemed to be stuffing my mouth from sleep.  
  
"Huuuuh, ugnh," or something like that croaked from the back of my throat.  
  
"Ah," the figure replied, "sounds like that's a request for something to drink."  
  
The figure got up out of a chair and headed away from the bed. I   
watched him slide a door open.  
  
"I'll be right back with something for you," he called over his   
shoulder as the door slid back shut.   
  
At that moment my brain would have been happy to just sink back   
into a childlike inactivity and let things around me simply happen, but I really did not want to be totally out of control of my situation as it developed about me. Gathering my will, and recalling the nausea the previous such attempt had caused, I heaved myself up into a sitting position with my left arm. My right shoulder and arm still hurt, but now the pain was something along the lines of a general ache. I still did not feel like moving my shoulder much, so I did not bother to try. Rubbing my eyes with my good hand, I tried my best to make out my surroundings.  
  
It was not easy to do. My head still had some sensation of vertigo, but it was not too bad. The main problem was my impaired vision; I could tell I was in a small bedroom with a desk, chair, and closet along with the bed I was resting in. I saw what looked like my hiking pack in a corner, but for the life of me I could not spy my glasses.   
  
The door slide back open and two people walked through. "You're   
able to sit up," the same man commented. "That's good. We weren't sure how hard of a hit you'd taken on your head."  
  
I must have looked confused until I remembered the bandage on my   
forehead. I reached up an touched it tentatively, wincing just a bit at the pressure from my finger tips. I struggled to say something in reply, but my brain was still too sleepy to process a Japanese string of thought. The second person who had walked through the door spoke up.  
  
"Aaaah! Not easy to talk in Japanese with a head injury, eh?" the woman said sympathetically.  
  
Surprising me completely, she then switched over into English,   
"Maybe you'll be a little more coherent speaking in your native language?" It looked like she was grinning, but I could not be sure.  
  
"Uh… Yes," I replied slowly in English, "Forgive me, but I can't   
seem to put my thoughts together very well today."  
  
The woman nodded. She was about the same height as the man, with   
a large, spiky mane of a peculiar shade of cyan.  
  
"I don't doubt that at all," she said, "you made a nice effort at trying to fly, but I wouldn't suggest you keep at it as a hobby." She had the smallest hint of an accent, and it was not Japanese.  
  
Nodding a bit, I said, "Yeah, what… what happened to me? I think   
someone ran into me." It was all still a bit foggy. "I must have taken a spill."   
  
The man handed me a glass of water. I nodded appreciatively and thanked him in Japanese.  
  
"Yes," said the woman, "that would have been my daughter, Yui,   
who was running down the steps to catch the morning bus. She's perpetually late, and you were just the latest victim of her tardiness."  
  
"Latest victim?" I inquired, not picking up on her humor at all.  
  
"Sure," she replied. "You should feel lucky. You're the first who's ever survived one of her collisions." I choked a bit on my water as I finally realized that the woman was teasing me.   
  
The man turned to the woman and said, "Ryoko-san, what is he   
asking?"  
  
She replied, "He's asking if you're available for marriage. He says from the first moment he opened his eyes, he was in complete love with you, the gallant knight who brought him water." Her low voice was full of seriousness.  
  
"EEEHHH?" the man seemed obviously shocked, sending me a fast   
look.  
  
I started to laugh, as I finally had the mental capacity to understand what was being said. The laughter I emitted made my shoulder start to ache badly again, so I quickly snuffed it down to a mild chuckle. I wish I had my glasses, I would have killed to see his expression clearly.  
  
The woman appeared to touch the man affectionately on the hand,   
and turned to me.  
  
"Well, if you're able to laugh, you're not so bad off. My name is Ryoko, and the overly gullible man beside me is my husband, Tenchi Masaki," she continued in English. "Tell me, how are you feeling?" she asked, leaning forward to inspect my shoulder and head.  
  
"I'm aching in my head and shoulder," I answered slowly. "I guess – I guess that happened in the fall down the stairs? Man, how long have I been knocked out?"  
  
Ryoko, still inspecting my arm, said, "Oh, about a day. You got hit by my daughter yesterday morning around six thirty, and right now it is -" she looked at her wrist "- about eleven. So, you've been out for quite a while."  
  
I winced as she peeled back my shoulder dressings and looked at my injuries.  
  
"A bad bruise there," the woman said, "a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing else serious looking." I shot a worried look at my shoulder, and Tenchi picked up on my discomfort.  
  
"Ah, if you're wondering about your condition," he began, "it just so happens my mother-in-law is a doctor and lives with us. She diagnosed and treated your injuries. If you wish to speak with her this morning, we can get her." I nodded to the man, Tenchi, showing I understood him.  
  
"That's really fortunate. Thank you, Masaki-san, I would appreciate that." He nodded and left the room. I did not want to make it look like I was not grateful for these people bandaging me up, but the fact that there was a doctor in the house made me feel much more secure.   
  
Ryoko spoke up, "Well, we'll get my mother, Washu, up here to   
check you out again. She's a very good doctor, actually, as she'll probably mention a few dozen times when she arrives."   
  
"Thank you very much Mrs. Masaki –" I began, before getting cut off.  
  
"Oh, please!" she laughed. "Please call me Ryoko, or Ryoko-san if you feel the need to keep with Japanese manners. Personally, it doesn't matter to me much."  
  
"You're not Japanese," I guessed. "Your English sounds American,   
and your blonde hair doesn't fit in with the native population, really." I wondered if I had stumbled upon some people from back across the Pacific. Suddenly, I realized how much I had missed just hearing someone speaking my native language in the past week.   
  
Instantly, I was starting to feel relaxed and better.  
  
"Uh, yeah," she started, "I, uh, met my husband while on a vacation of sorts in Japan, but I'm from America."  
  
"Really? Small world, isn't it? Which part of the States? You don't sound Canadian."  
  
"Well-" she tried to say, but was interrupted by a short and petite woman who walked through the door.  
  
"Well, she doesn't sound Canadian, because she isn't," said the newly arrived, red-haired woman in English that had a definite mid-western flair to it.   
  
"Sooo, are we deciding that waking up is a good idea this morning?" she inquired boisterously. "That's good. I would have had to figure out something to do with your body if you hadn't made it!" She dragged a cart on wheels through the door that appeared to have some large equipment on it.   
  
"I'm Washu, by the way, and I just happen to be one the best doctor *and* scientist in the world –"  
  
"Told you," Ryoko said to me.  
  
"— so don't *you* feel lucky?"  
  
I nodded. "I guess I am lucky," I replied, still just a little suspicious of the situation I was really in. "My name is Nathan –"  
  
"Nathaniel Swann!" the little doctor cut me off. "Yes, when you first got here, we wanted to see your name, so we searched your pants for your wallet. Hello!!" she giggled.  
  
I was instantly suspicious of what *else* she might have searched.  
  
"Washu," growled Ryoko, "he's been through enough without your   
bothering him more."  
  
"My, where *did* I get such a grumbling daughter?" Washu   
pondered. "Oh, well. Let's see how you're doing, shall we?"  
  
I startled as a very loud snapping noise popped in the air. The red-haired doctor was putting on protective rubber gloves as she peered at my shoulder.   
  
"Ah, yes. The swelling has gone down as I expected, but I'll take another x-ray to make sure I didn't miss anything yesterday." Washu began to slowly pull the bandage off my head, the tape pulling at my skin. I winced a little bit.  
  
"There, there," Washu comforted, "I'm sure that stings a little, but it's not too bad is it?"  
  
"No, no ma'am," I said, "just the bandage pulling a bit. You have to be from the mid-west, right?" I could not help it. After seeing 'Fargo' any kind of accent from the mid-west almost always made me smile.  
  
"Ya, you betcha!" Washu agreed. "They don't make this kind of   
voice just anywhere!" She finished her inspection and turned to her cart. She fiddled a bit with the contraption, and finally extended a small boom out over my injured shoulder.  
  
"We'll use this to scan your shoulder right quick," she declared.   
Pressing a button, the machine made some small noises, and the boom moved over the length of my injury. When it was finished, a monitor on the cart suddenly brightened. Washu peered at it.  
  
"Mmm-hmm. Just as I suspected. No broken bones or injured   
ligaments in your shoulder at all. Just one heck of a large bruise." She turned the monitor towards me. "See for yourself."  
  
I peered at the blurry image on the monitor, but I could not make   
heads or tails of it without my glasses. "Um, I'm sorry, but I can't see anything without my glasses. Where are they?"  
  
"Glasses?" Ryoko echoed in surprise, making my heart sink just a bit. They were my only pair in Japan, and if they were lost, I was in trouble. "I had no idea you had any. You weren't wearing them when we found you."   
  
She crossed her arms and huffed. "I guess they must have gotten   
knocked off in the impact with my daughter. Don't worry, I'll go with my husband and look for them."  
  
"Thank you very, very much," I breathed, relieved that they were   
probably somewhere still out by the stairs I had fallen down. "I appreciate it, really."  
  
Ryoko waved a blurry hand, "Hey, no problem. Least I can do since my daughter clocked you. Be back in a bit." She left the room. I looked back at Washu and the blurry monitor.  
  
"Well, you'll just have to take my word for the image," she said   
brightly. "I also scanned the rest of your arm yesterday where you have some lacerations and bruises, but except for an old healed break in your forearm, there was no other damage."  
  
That convinced me she was on the level. The break in my arm was   
over fifteen years old, and she had seen it as such.  
  
"Sounds fine with me," I sighed.  
  
"Now, don't worry a bit," Washu said, noting my sigh. "I think you should be up and around on your feet by this evening if you want. Your shoulder will be hard to move for a couple of days because of the injury, but you should start to get full mobility from it in a few days." She touched my forehead. "The cut up here wasn't too deep, so I've just got some butterfly bandages on it. No need for stitches if your body can do the job itself."  
  
I nodded me head rapidly, repeating, "Sounds fine with me."   
Suddenly, I started to get an uncomfortable pressure in my belly and bladder.  
  
"Yes, I'll have my assistant, Sasami, come up in a few minutes,"   
Washu continued, apparently oblivious to my discomfort, "and she'll be sure to redress you – err, your injuries, that is!"  
  
"Um," I began.  
  
"Yes, is there something you need?" Washu asked.  
  
"Directions to a bathroom," I replied with a pinched face.  
  
Washu laughed a bit too gleefully for my comfort. "Oh, really? I can help with that!"  
  
***  
  
  
From inside a large closet on the second floor of the Masaki   
residence, a great deal of shuffling and rattling could be heard. Within the walk-in closet, Princess Sasami rooted about as she identified and confiscated various bandages and medicines that Washu had requested for her patient. Washu had 'volunteered' Sasami to go and redress the man's wounds after her reexamination was completed, but the princess was not sure exactly how she felt about her newly found medical duties.  
  
Inside of Sasami's pretty noggin, a small battle was raging between the forces of depression and adventure. Despite the assurances she had given Washu the day before about trying to be optimistic about her situation, in truth Sasami was finding it very difficult to remain light hearted. She picked off the last of the items Washu wanted and paused, standing quietly in the closet.  
  
'What's the point?' she asked, handing herself a large helping of   
defeat. 'Why am I getting excited about some stranger when I know that he'll be up and gone in a day or two, and I'll be leaving for Jurai soon after?' Sasami scrunched her eyebrows and took a deep breath.   
  
"It's ridiculous," she said out loud, "I'll just go in there and do what Washu wants me to do and be done with it."  
  
Sasami backed herself out of the closet, closed the door with one of her feet, and turned to walk down the hallway.  
  
'Besides,' she continued with her irrational berating, 'the only   
interest I have ever been able to muster is from boring nobles and furry cabbits. He's not going to be any different.'   
  
She took a deep breath as she reached the patient's door.  
  
'Well, at least I can appear to be happy,' Sasami thought, sticking a small smile on her face. 'Let's get this done.'  
  
She slid the door open and walked in, finding she was the only person in the room besides her patient. Looking up from the items in her hands, Sasami looked at the young man and again felt the same disturbing sense of shock she had first experienced on the stairs.  
  
He turned his head at the sound of the door sliding open and asked, "Hello?"  
  
The princess found her power of speech momentarily lost. "Uh, h-  
hello," she blurted in English. The young man's face brightened.  
  
"Hey, you are an American, too?" he asked. "You must be related to Doctor Washu and Ryoko-san, right?"  
  
Sasami's mind was in a whirl, but she quickly remembered the cover story that had already been devised in case the patient began asking questions of this sort.  
  
"Um, no," she began, "I'm an American cousin of Tenchi. My name   
is Sasami Masaki." She placed the medical items down on a dresser and   
looked at the young man again.  
  
"I'm pleased to meet you, Sasami," he said brightly. "My name is   
Nathaniel Swann. You're here to patch me up again, so to speak?" His voice was deep and rich, with a soothing quality to it.  
  
"Wow," Sasami blurted, "you sound like you should be on the radio." For no particular reason, she looked embarrassed as she made the comment.  
  
Nathaniel smiled rather wryly and replied, "Yeah, my college   
advisors told me on any number of occasions that I was wasting a career in radio by being an engineer." He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and smiled. "I haven't decide yet if they were right or not."  
  
Sasami found his sense of humor infectious and began to smile   
herself. His gaze did not waver from her face for one instant, but any self consciousness she might have felt was disarmed by his cheerful expression.   
  
"Really?" she replied, sitting down next to the head of the bed. "So why didn't you? I bet you would have done well with a voice like that."  
  
It was Nathaniel's turn to look a little embarrassed. "Well," he said, "it just never occurred to me, actually. Up until I got to college, I never used to talk that much."  
  
"Mm-hmm," said Sasami as she began to remove his old head   
bandages. "This may sting just a little bit," she apologized.  
  
"No problem," Nathaniel replied, his gaze still fixed upon the   
princess's face. "Are you a nursing assistant, then?" he asked, not flinching an inch as the dressings came off.  
  
"Who me?" Sasami answered, focused on the bandages. "No, I'm   
just a princess—" She cut herself off, her hands freezing in mid-air above his head.  
  
"No kidding. Is the pay good?"  
  
'Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!' blitzed Sasami's brain as it   
registered what she had just blurted out. 'Quick, quick! Think of something witty to reply!'  
  
"Uh, pay?"  
  
'Oh, geez, brilliant response, Sasami, you goof.'  
  
"Yeah," smiled Nathaniel, "with all the work princesses have to do these days, you must get a nice salary for all those photo appearances, christening new ships, and having to date boring princes, right?"  
  
"Actually," she disagreed as her mind still whirled, "I generally get chained to squat tree in a dark basement with only moldy bread with water to eat." She then smiled weakly, "The princes *are* boring, however."  
  
Nathaniel chuckled. "Yes, I can see how your sense of humor would be wasted on them."  
  
Sasami started to let herself relax, realizing that Nathaniel had   
thought she was joking the entire time. She decided to make sure he kept that impression.  
  
"Thanks, I appreciate that," she smiled back. "Actually, I'm more of a, uh, cook than anything else, I suppose." She finished her work on his forehead and moved her attentions to his shoulder. "Not really professional, of course. Mainly just for my family here." She removed his shoulder bandages and fetched a bottle of disinfectant for his lacerations.  
  
"Actually, that sounds better than being a princess," Nathaniel   
commented. "Besides, aren't the cooks the ones who get to poison the royal families? I think I'd rather be in that position myself – ow!" The peroxide Sasami had applied began to work its way into his cuts, cleaning them out.  
  
"Sorry about that," she winced in sympathy. "I know that has to   
sting."  
  
"Oh, no worries," Nathaniel sighed. "It can't be helped, I know." Nathaniel released his tension and settled back into the bed.  
  
"So, will I have the opportunity to sample your cooking, Princess   
Sasami?" he inquired with a friendly joking tone to his voice.  
  
Sasami smiled shyly and looked down at the bandages in her hands.   
"I think that won't be a problem at all, actually," she said.  
  
***  
  
  
In addition to freely admitting a short attention span, Ryoko would also be hard pressed to deny a general impatience in her personality. Of the whole list of things in the galaxy that annoyed her, including empty sake bottles, the Galaxy Police, and a certain Juraian empress, waiting had them all beat by a long mile.  
  
Ryoko was presently sitting on the sofa in the living room with both her arms and legs crossed and an insatiable look of curiosity plastered on her face. Twitching one of her feet in a rapid motion, she looked at her watch, the clock on the wall, then back at her watch again. Beside her, Tenchi sat quietly, occasionally rustling the paper he was reading. Across the small coffee table sat Washu, who was busily typing on her virtual console.  
  
A look of unveiled annoyance crossed Ryoko's features.  
  
*Rustle-rustle*  
  
*Tap-tap-tap-click-tap-tap*  
  
Ryoko looked at her watch again and clenched her teeth in   
impatience.  
  
*Rustle-rustle*  
  
*Tap-tap-tap-click-tap-tap*  
  
Ryoko unclenched her teeth, uncrossed her legs, and set both of her hands down flat on the sofa beside her. Tenchi and Washu both continued their activities, apparently unaware of Ryoko's fidgeting.  
  
*Tap-tap-tap-click-tap-tap*  
  
*Rustle-rustle*  
  
Ryoko snapped. "AGHGH! WOULD THE TWO OF YOU STOP   
IT??"  
  
Having initially ducked behind his newspaper, Tenchi slowly peered over the top of a page and peered at his wife. "Um, is something the matter, Ryoko-san?"  
  
"Of *course* something is the matter!" Ryoko seethed. "She's been up there for over thirty minutes! What is going on?"  
  
Her mother looked over her virtual computer screen at her.  
  
"Sooo, that's why you've been squirming for the past fifteen   
minutes," Washu acknowledged, "you want to know what Sasami and the   
American are up to, right?"  
  
"Well, sure I do!" Ryoko barked. "I mean, how long does it take to replace a few bandages, anyway?"  
  
Washu began typing quickly on her console as charts and data flew   
past on her screen.  
  
"Weeeell, if you consider the average time it takes to change   
bandages with injuries of this nature, adjusting for the adhesion of the tape that must be removed, as well as the inherent nervousness one atypical Juraian princess might be encountering, I'd say… oh, about 12.25 minutes, give or take."   
  
Washu looked up from her console to find Ryoko glaring at her.   
  
"What? You *did* ask," she said sweetly.  
  
Ryoko growled, "I know I *asked*, Washu. I just want to know what all the extra time is being spent on."  
  
"Oh, nothing much, reeeally," Washu smiled at Ryoko. "So far,   
they've been talking about little things like cooking, employment, and travel."   
  
A concentrated look grew on Washu's face. "Basically, just a lot of chit-chat, though Sasami has been laughing quite a bit."  
  
"Oh, chit-chat," mused Tenchi, "that doesn't sound bad—"  
  
"Oi…" interrupted Ryoko menacingly, "you mean you've been   
listening to them all this time?"  
  
"Why, certainly!" beamed Washu. "You didn't think the greatest   
scientific mind in the universe would sit down here on a sofa if she didn't have a miniature listening device stashed near those two, did you?"  
  
Ryoko's eyes were closed and her hands clenched. "You mean,   
you've been listening to everything that's going on –"   
  
Her eyes opened. "— while *I've* been sitting here going nuts with curiosity?"  
  
"Hmm. Essentially, yes."  
  
Ryoko, her eyes dangerously bright, leaned over the table and casually picked her mother up off the sofa by her collar.  
  
"I hate curiosity," she said.  
  
"Hmm. So I gather."  
  
"Uh, Ryoko-san?" Tenchi started, lowering his paper a little.  
  
Ryoko swung her gaze over to her husband, fires burning in her eyes. Tenchi gulped and quickly raised his newspaper back in front of his face.  
  
"N-never mind, dearest."  
  
"Ryoko, why don't you put me down before –"  
  
"Before?" Ryoko growled.  
  
"Before Sasami has to wonder anymore exactly why you are lifting   
me off the ground," replied Washu, pointing to Sasami, who was standing on the stairs. Washu did a massive face-plant back into the sofa as her daughter dropped her unceremoniously.  
  
"Sasami!" Ryoko sang out innocently. "So, how is our guest?"  
  
"Nathaniel is fine and resting comfortably," replied the princess with a smile. "In fact, he's insisting that he'd like to be up and about later this afternoon. He doesn't like to sit in bed very much."  
  
Sasami looked at the little red-haired scientist as she pulled her face out from between the sofa cushions. "Of course, Washu should probably already know that."  
  
Washu looked up cross-eyed from the sofa. "Uh, heh-heh, you   
noticed the little bug, then?"  
  
"Something like that," Sasami grinned as she walked into the kitchen humming to herself.  
  
Ryoko quickly replaced her look of annoyance with one of her   
patented feral grins as she watched the princess retreat into the kitchen.   
  
'This might actually work,' she thought.  
  
***  
  
  
Over a boiling pot of water, carrots were being slashed and hacked into delicate slices at an amazing speed. As soon as one carrot was sliced to the stem, another would appear rapidly to suffer the same fate. As the number of carrots on the countertop became fewer and fewer, the look in Ryo-ohki's eyes became more and more woeful.  
  
"Meeee-ow," she complained, resting atop Sasami's head with her   
paws splayed out in all directions for balance.  
  
The number of carrots left on the countertop was down to just two. Still chopping away, Sasami hummed to herself, all the while smiling and ignoring the cabbit's best efforts to get her attention. Finishing off her current carrot, Sasami reached for one of the two remaining vegetables and made quick work of it as well.  
  
Ryo-ohki was in tears.  
  
Not breaking her stride, Sasami picked up the last carrot and absently held it above her head while simultaneously running down her checklist of ingredients in her cookbook. Ryo-ohki's eyes instantly turned into diamonds of happiness as she nabbed the carrot and happily began munching away, still on top of Sasami's head. The princess really did not seem to mind.  
  
Convinced she was on the right track with the evening meal, Sasami worked from one side of the countertop to the other, hands moving rapidly with a practiced ease that any Paris chef would have admired. Reaching a stage where everything for the meal was in a cooking mode, either in ovens or on stove tops, Sasami paused to simply observe her culinary creations,   
occasionally lifting a pot lid or stirring something with a wooden spoon.  
  
With the fury of cooking past, Sasami allowed her thoughts to drift a bit while steam wafted in front of her from the larger pots. As the minutes ticked by, the happy expression Sasami had been adopting for most of the time she had been in the kitchen began to fade. It seemed every time she was not engaged in some thought consuming activity, the dread of her inescapable departure to Jurai weighed upon her with darkness and depression.   
  
Sasami sighed. The problem was that the oppressive nature of   
Empress Ayeka's directive was always waiting for Sasami every minute of the day. No matter what she was engaged in, the knowledge of her impending fate soiled her otherwise upbeat and happy nature. In fact, Sasami could not remember any time in her life where she had been faced with such prolonged feelings of dread anticipation. The only two things that could even compare were when Tenchi faced annihilation at Kagato's hands and when Ryoko had died so many years ago. Each time, though, the sadness had never had the sense of finality that her planned marriage promised; Tenchi had quickly defeated Kagato, and in the shadow of Ryoko's death, Sasami had watched life bloom in Yui. For her feelings with this, however… there just was no hope on the horizon as far as she could see.  
  
"If you continue to stand in a daze," a voice mentioned just over her head, "dinner is liable to be a disaster."  
  
Spooked entirely, Sasami jumped an inch off the floor, whirling   
quickly at the same time with her spoon raised to her defense. There was a crash and clatter as Ryo-ohki landed in a heap of dishes and pots several feet away.  
  
Yosho looked down at the princess seriously.  
  
"Hmm," he said, "that is an interesting weapon you have raised   
against me. Do you plan to engage me in battle with a mixing spoon?"  
  
Sasami panted a number of times before catching her breath and her wits to respond.   
  
"Yosho-oniichan, if you *ever* do that to me again, I swear   
that I'll never cook you dinner anymore!" Sasami bristled for a moment until she smelled the first hints of something in the over that was starting to burn.  
  
"Oh, dammit all!" she swore, rushing to the oven to salvage its   
contents.  
  
Yosho calmly took the rebuke and walked over to where a dazed Ryo-ohki lay head over heels in a pile of cookery. Gently picking the cabbit up out of the mess, he cradled her in the crook of his arm, stroking her fur in a reassuring manner. Turning back to the princess, he noted that she had calmed down after critically inspecting her cooking.  
  
"I hope there is no lasting damage, Sasami-chan," he apologized,   
"but I only meant to remove you from whatever weighty thoughts were   
prevailing you at the moment."  
  
Sasami wiped her hands with a kitchen towel, and then threw the   
towel against the refrigerator with some vengeance, her long blue hair swirling in anger.  
  
"It's not fair!" she cried.  
  
"Ah, and what would be not so fair?" asked Yosho as he bent down   
with his free hand to retrieve the towel. "And are you going to be throwing any more objects this afternoon? As you can see," he indicated to his arms, "I'm starting to run out of hands."  
  
The princess put her hands on the edge of the countertop and began to quietly cry. Raising an eyebrow to her reaction, Yosho gently placed the still dazed cabbit and disowned towel down on the countertop before taking the weeping Sasami into his arms comfortingly.  
  
"Now, now," he soothed, "it can't be all that bad as it seems right now. What is bothering you so, Sasami-chan?"  
  
Sasami sniffed into his gi-top before pulling away slightly and wiping her eyes with her arm. "You, you haven't heard already?" she asked. "I thought someone would have told you by now."  
  
"I get to hear many things," the older prince remarked, "but not   
always as soon as everyone else." Yosho looked over at the stove. "I do not pretend to be an authority on cooking, but I think you should tend to your creations before too long, else they will not be fit for the compost heap."  
  
She sniffed again and nodded her head. "You're right, of course," she agreed, "but Yosho… can I talk to you sometime afterwards? I have a big p-problem, and I think only you could really appreciate it fully."  
  
Yosho raised his eyebrows slightly at Sasami's comments, but nodded his head regardless. "Of course, Sasami-chan. Please see me any time you need to. There is nothing so important in my day that time can not be bent to accommodate you."  
  
A small, valiant smile appeared on Sasami's face in appreciation.   
"Thank you Yosho-oniichan," she said giving him a hug. "Thank you a whole lot."  
  
"My pleasure," he replied. Turning to the still cooking food, he   
added, "Do you think you could hurry the cooking along? I am *really*   
hungry tonight."  
  
Yosho beat a speedy exit from the kitchen, dodging Sasami's spoon   
attacks.  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter Four:  
  
"Beloved, what are doing to Sasami?"  
  
Nathaniel's rehabilitation begins, as Sasami emotions swing.  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
(http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000. 


	4. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 4

Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC.   
As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other   
than my own enjoyment, because the thought of getting sued is rather   
unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo   
Fan Fiction Page:   
http://www.tmffa.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of fiction.   
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence. Anyone  
who thinks otherwise is probably just itching for a fight. Also, please  
do not try and distribute this story in some lame attempt to make a   
buck; it would be bad karma to say the least.  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
  
  
Come live with me and be my love,  
And we will all the pleasures prove  
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,  
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.  
-- Christopher Marlowe  
"The Passionate Shepard to His Love"  
  
If all the world and love were young,  
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,  
Those pretty pleasures might me move  
To live with thee and be thy love.  
-- Sir Walter Raleigh  
"The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd"  
  
  
  
  
-* Chapter Four *-  
  
  
In a void dotted by a million tiny stars, a lone sentry stood solitary   
guard over a border in space. Not demarcated by any permanent reference   
markers, such as planets or asteroids, the Jurai border beacon was one of a   
series of laser mounted automations designed to turn back unauthorized   
intruders from the special restricted space beyond.  
  
The space that included the colonized planet, Earth, in the Solar   
System.  
  
Facing outwards from the zone of protected space, the glossy and gold   
plated laser platform trained all of its sensors, straining to pick out potential   
intruders from the vast background of radiation, dust, and other noise   
that made up the emptiness of space. Using a series of ultra sensitive cameras   
that scanned all ranges matter, the little drone quietly went about its duty, year   
after year, its blinking red and blue warning lights adorning the outside of its   
casing the only sign of activity. So the sentry drone had gone about the past   
several hundred years, with never having to achieve alert status. After all,   
who would come through this part of empty space to visit a series of backwater   
solar systems? However, being a drone, it never occurred to the sentry to   
consider complaining about its unexciting lot in life.  
  
In the far distance, directly in front of the border sentry, a small   
distortion seemed to blur across the field of stars.  
  
Wholly unconcerned, the sentry continued to scan the immediate   
space, lights blinking unhurriedly.  
  
Moments later, the distortion increased in size until it became a   
definite shiny dot against the starry backdrop.  
  
Any of a large number of automated warnings, under normal   
circumstances, should have started broadcasting from the sentry as its lasers   
automatically trained on the rapidly approaching object. As the object   
continued to close on the border, however, the sentry showed no signs of   
activity.  
  
With a mighty rush of speed in the silence of space, a small, sleek   
vessel of Juraian origin flashed across the border within meters of the sentry.   
Quicker than a ray of light, the vessel continued its coarse and soon   
disappeared amongst the stars.  
  
Unknown to the sentry, and the Juraian engineers who created such   
things, it had just fallen victim to the latest in stealth technology. The border   
sentry remained quiet, its caution lights merrily blinking in red and blue as it   
remained scanning what it considered empty space.  
  
***   
  
  
A series of clangs from some part of the house downstairs brought me   
out of my lethargic afternoon daze that I was enduring. I never enjoy being in   
bed when I have every desire to stay awake. More often than not, oversleeping   
makes me feel thick headed and slightly ill, a condition which I have only   
recently had to deal with. For example, at this stage in my life, oversleeping   
makes my head hurt for some reason. When I was in college and high school,   
there were not enough hours in the day for me to get enough sleep. I prided   
myself on being able to sleep anywhere at anytime, and I enjoyed doing so.   
However, back in elementary school and kinder garden, there was nothing I   
hated more than the teacher imposed `nap time'. The thought of anyone   
forcing me to sleep at that stage of my life made me rather upset. Interestingly   
enough, I image that as I get into old age, I will once again return to a state   
where I enjoy oversleeping a lot more than I do now. It is rather odd, but I   
suppose that is just the way things work for me.  
  
At any rate I had no desire to stay bed ridden any longer. It was late   
afternoon by this point, and a faint smell of food coming through the house   
ventilation system made my stomach very aware of just how empty it really   
was. I smiled as I thought of the girl who had changed my bandages, Sasami,   
and who was probably well engaged in a meal prepared under her modestly   
described cooking skills. I really enjoyed talking with her for a while, because   
I did not feel uncomfortable around her, despite the fact she was having to take   
time out of her day to attend me. I knew that the accident was not my fault   
and that they all felt obligated to aid my recovery, it just seemed that Sasami   
was pleasant to talk in a way that seemed to project she did not mind being   
there to do so. Plus, she had a very nice voice. I know she complimented my   
`radio voice' when she first walked in, but in truth she had a similar soothing   
quality to hers as well. Also, her accent, though it sounded like it was from   
the States, had a peculiar tone to it that I could not quite place, though it   
tickled my brain continuously any time I thought about it.  
  
Interrupting my thoughts with a shake of my head, I made a   
concerted effort to propel my body up into a sitting position on the side of the   
bed. Doing so had the predictable effect as my head spun a tad and my   
shoulder began to ache in different places do to gravity.  
  
"Come on, body," I said to myself, "you've had worse than this any   
number of times."   
  
Putting both my feet solidly on the ground, I slowly stood up and   
made my way over to my backpack, which was still sitting in a corner. With   
much effort, due to my impaired vision, I dug through the pack until I located   
my change of clothes and some soap to clean myself up with. I wondered for a   
moment if the people who had attended me had been able to locate my glasses.   
It really bothered me having my world cut short to almost five inches from my   
nose. Additionally, I felt somewhat disappointed that I could not see what   
Sasami looked like, thinking back to our conversation. I mean, I was aware   
that she had long flowing blue hair, large eyes, and appeared to be several   
inches shorter than myself, but other than that everything was a big blur.  
  
In reality, not having my glasses probably emboldened me somewhat.   
You would not really think it, but there is quite an advantage to being able to   
maintain a constant unwavering eye contact with someone when you yourself   
can not see the other person clearly. It helps make up in confidence what I   
lose from not being able to see things, I guess. Anyhow, my point is I think I   
become less self-conscious when I can not see clearly, as weird as that may   
seem.  
  
Sliding my bedroom door open quietly, I stepped out into the hall and   
made my way down to where I remembered the bathroom being. I quirked my   
face a bit at the memory of trying to keep Doctor Washu out of the bathroom,   
convincing her that I could handle my end of things perfectly, despite my   
injuries. I could not tell by her facial expression, but her voice sounded   
disappointed for some strange reason. Locating a sink, I did my best to clean   
up the past day's wear and tear on my body, making an effort to clean as much   
of my face and upper body without disturbing Sasami's handiwork. Thinking   
about that girl made me smile in a goofy way, and I laughed at myself for   
letting my thoughts get so distracted while in a foreign country.  
  
"After all, Nathaniel," I said, looking at my blurry image in a mirror,   
"you're not going to be anywhere near this part of Japan for more than a day   
or two for the rest of your trip. Use your head."  
  
'Actually,' my head responded, 'Unless you get your vision back   
pronto, you're not going to be able to go much of anywhere, period.'  
  
"Good point," I conceded.  
  
I sighed and fumbled about some more, trying my best to not make a total   
mess of myself. After drying off and inspecting my damaged shoulder again, I got   
into my change of clothes, which required quite a bit of finesse, seeing as how   
I was doing so with only one functioning arm. The shirt was not much of a problem,   
but try buttoning up a pair of jeans sometime with one free hand. It is *not*   
easy. Eventually, things were put in some semblance of order, and I packed up   
my dirty clothes and wash things and headed back to my room.   
  
***  
  
  
Nathaniel eased his way back to his room with no difficulties, and he   
stashed his dirty things back into his pack and slowly stood up straight. Walking   
over to a window, he then pulled back the shades to see - well, nothing, actually.   
He could make out the color of the sky, a soft red indicating the late afternoon,   
and the blurry shapes of thick trees and bushes, but not much else. Badly desiring   
his glasses, and catching a whiff of something good cooking, Nathaniel shuffled   
over to his bed and put on a thick pair of socks before getting up and heading   
to the door again. Just as his hand reached for the handle, a knock came from   
the other side as the door slid open smoothly. It was Sasami.  
  
"Oh! Geez," she breathed in English, "I'm sorry, you startled me! I   
didn't expect you to be standing right behind the door."  
  
Nathaniel smiled at her and responded, "My bad, I seemed to have spooked   
myself just as much. What's up?"  
  
Sasami seemed to think for a moment before realizing why she was there,   
"Oh, right. I came to collect you for dinner."  
  
"Sounds fantastic. My stomach is letting me know in no uncertain   
terms just how hungry it is."  
  
"Well, you're in for a treat," Sasami beamed, "because dinner is on   
the table and waiting." Her head cocked to the side slightly, and she said with   
some concern, "I'm glad to see you're able to get up and around, but are you   
sure you feel all right?"  
  
"I have a few aches," he admitted, "but nothing that's going to keep me   
away from your food!"  
  
A smile seemed to appear on her face. "Well, then. Please follow   
me." With that, she turned away from the door, and Nathaniel followed her slowly   
into the hallway.   
  
So far, everything seemed fine as far as Nathaniel's injuries went.   
However, when he got to the top of the stairs, Nathaniel experienced some vertigo   
as he could not see exactly how far down the first step was. Teetering on one   
foot as he reached down with the other tentatively, he lost his balance slightly   
and flailed with his good left arm. Just as Nathaniel thought he was *really*   
going to lose his balance, he felt Sasami at his left side, grabbing a hold of   
his arm firmly until he had steadied himself.  
  
"Thanks," Nathaniel nodded as he continued to try and get his bearings   
on that first step.  
  
"Here," she said worriedly, "you might get dizzy going down the   
stairs, so take my hand and I'll guide you down."  
  
Sliding her hand into his, Sasami slowly began to make her way   
down the stairs. Nathaniel knew that dizziness was not really his problem, and   
once he had the height of that first step judged properly, the rest were a piece   
of cake. The feel of his hand in hers, however, did threaten to make him dizzy   
despite all logic, so he did not dare let go as they descended the staircase.   
Finally, they reached the bottom of the steps.  
  
"There you go," nodded Sasami approvingly, "you made it."  
  
Nathaniel smiled back at her and bobbed his head in agreement, not saying   
anything. After a few moments, an embarrassed self-consciousness set in as Sasami   
was still holding his hand, and Nathaniel was not trying to set himself loose,   
either. Suddenly, Sasami became self-conscious as well, because she jerked her   
hand away suddenly and motioned down a side hall to the dining room.  
  
"Uh, we're in there," she stammered as she turned and walked in that   
direction.  
  
Nathaniel moved after her, trying to avoid running into things while   
sorting the `funny' feeling he could not seem to shake from the touch of her   
hand.  
  
***  
  
  
The conversation at dinner had been lively, to say the least. I found   
myself fairly dazed at the animated bantering that went on throughout the   
meal between the members of the household. Having come from a very small   
and quiet family, I simply sat back and let my senses absorb in the noise.   
Even though I still could not make out faces very well, I had managed to   
familiarize myself with the blurry images of people to identify them at close   
range. Also, I had no problem identifying and remembering everyone's voices   
around the table. As far as I could tell, however, the people at the table   
generally fell into one of two categories: loud, and not so loud.  
  
Ryoko was loud. I was simply amazed at the knack for talking that   
the woman had. And it was not idle chit-chat, either. Ryoko had a gift for   
engaging, if not occasionally risque, conversation that always seemed to draw   
my attention for some reason. She also seemed to go out of her way to draw   
out conversation from me as well, which did help to lighten up a somewhat   
awkward situation for everyone. After all, you could imagine how I felt being   
at a dinner table full of strangers in a foreign country, especially when those   
strangers were feeling extremely responsible for almost incurring brain   
damage upon me.  
  
Ryoko's daughter and mother were definitely in the loud category as   
well. While they did not talk as much as Ryoko, Doctor Washu certainly had a   
knack for inserting interesting observations or barbs at her daughter, while   
Yui, in spite of her embarrassment for knocking me out, had the enthusiastic   
chattering that comes from most normal teenagers. Doctor Washu also carried   
on a rather one sided conversation all evening with Tenchi's grandfather,   
Katsuhito.   
  
Katsuhito was definitely in the quiet category. He appeared to be   
dressed in something that resembled a martial arts gi, only nicer and more   
comfortable looking. To be honest, I do not recall him saying more than a few   
sentences all evening to anyone, though for some reason he still seemed to be a   
pleasant seeming fellow, if not cryptic. For example, when asked by Doctor   
Washu if he wanted any more of some soup, he replied in haiku that had   
something to do with sunsets and swans. Apparently that was an affirmative,   
because he got a refill in his bowl.  
  
Tenchi was also in the quiet category, though he was by no means as   
stoic as his grandfather. He asked me pleasant questions about where I was   
from and my life in general while engaging in friendly banter with everyone at   
the table. However, when his and Ryoko's conversations met, as they   
frequently seemed to do, the two of them seemed to drop into sweetheart voices   
like a couple who had not been married for very long. Actually, the range of   
affection that would enter their voices made me a bit embarrassed from time to   
time, as if I were eavesdropping on an almost private conversation. The only   
person who was absent from the table that evening was Tenchi's father,   
Nobuyuki. I had not had a chance to meet the man, yet, but as I understood it,   
he was away visiting relatives, or some such activity.  
  
The only other person at the table that evening was one I was   
constantly aware of the entire time. Sasami was to my right at the table and   
did her best to help me identify everything due to my impaired vision. She   
would pick out bowls of food and describe them, helping me choose out what I   
wanted to eat for the evening. After sampling her first two small dishes, I   
quickly decided that it was imperative I leave room in my stomach for   
everything on the table. Her food, to use a polite understatement, was simply   
mouthwatering. Everything was a delight to eat, even the items that I had   
never even seen the likes of before, as my experience with Japanese food was   
not all that broad. I think the highlight of the meal was a simple piece of tuna   
sushi that was not only incredibly tasty, but the flakes of meat seemed to melt   
in my mouth with the most pleasing of sensations. There comes a point in   
some meals where you just can not say, "Mmm, this is fantastic!" enough to   
describe it.  
  
Because Sasami was sitting close enough beside me at the table to   
help me out with getting food and drink with my still disabled arm, I had the   
opportunity to see her features a little more clearly than earlier in the day. The   
only problem was trying to stare at the woman without actually *looking* like   
I was staring. Her large lavender eyes were soft and had an inviting quality to   
them, with high, arching eyebrows that were covered by a series of bangs that   
kept falling down across her forehead and eyes. As irrational as it seemed, for   
some strange reason I had an almost insatiable urge to want to brush them   
back with my good hand. For a whole host of reasons, I sat on the temptation.  
  
Fortunately, I suppose, my attention was drawn away enough by the   
other people at the table to keep me from ever getting the chance to stare at   
Sasami too obviously. Ryoko, especially, kept throwing questions at me which   
diverted my gaze from Sasami, whenever she had just finished talking to me   
or helping me with dinner. However, though I did not really realize it until   
later, Ryoko also had a habit of ending a lot of her comments with something   
along the lines of, "Wouldn't you agree, Sasami?" which invariably gave me   
an excuse to draw my attention back to my neighbor at the dinner table.  
  
After a while, however, there was a snap of Tenchi's fingers from his   
side of the table, as if he had just remembered something important.  
  
"Oh," he said, "I just remembered something important."  
  
I grinned inwardly at my uncanny and completely useless   
precognitive abilities. Getting up off the floor, Tenchi walked over to a bureau   
and fished an item off of it.  
  
"I found these a little while ago," Tenchi stated, "they must have   
gotten knocked off pretty hard, because they were laying further down the   
staircase, several feet away."  
  
"Daaaad," whined Yui, "you don't have to rub it in."  
  
"That's okay, Yui," I assured her, excited to see my glasses had been   
found. "I'm just glad to have them back." I felt a comforting pat on my back   
and turned to see Sasami smiling at me.  
  
"Um," hedged Tenchi, "they're not exactly in the best shape. In fact,   
I'd say they're banged up pretty bad." With an apologetic nod of his head, he   
leaned across the table and deposited the contents into my outstretched hand.  
  
What tumbled into my hand were fragments of two broken lenses and   
one pair of slightly mangled metal frames. Scrunching my brow in   
consternation at the state of my glasses, I deposited the lenses fragments onto   
the edge of the table and tried to slowly bend the frame back into shape with   
one hand.  
  
"I don't know if that's such a good-" began Sasami, as there was a   
small snap from my hand, "-idea."  
  
As gentle as I had been, one of the arms of the frame that was bent   
had snapped in half, leaving me with absolutely nothing resembling a working   
pair of spectacles. I sighed heavily as my worst case scenario fears were   
realized.  
  
"Nathaniel?" asked Sasami.  
  
"I'm *really* sorry, sir," said Yui at the same time.  
  
"No, no," I said, trying to brush her apologies aside. "These glasses   
are beyond repair, but I'm not totally helpless, I think."  
  
"Really?" Sasami said with relief. "I take it you have a spare pair of   
glasses back at your inn?"  
  
I rubbed the side of my face ruefully as I disagreed. "No," I said,   
"that certainly would have been the smart thing for me to do, brining a spare   
pair of glasses with me to Japan. Unfortunately, this is the first pair of glasses   
I've broken since I was fourteen, so I just didn't think about it when I was   
packing." I chewed my bottom lip, considering my options that I could   
explore.  
  
Ryoko looked at me. "Can you get around without them?"  
  
I nodded, still in thought. "Sure," I said, "I can get around, I just   
can't see anything in focus unless my nose is a couple of inches from it. What   
I really need is a shop that can make a pair of glasses."  
  
"Well, we have that in town," Tenchi spoke up helpfully. "You can   
get a pair made there without much difficulty at all, I would suppose.   
Especially if you already know your prescription."  
  
"Hmm," I said grimacing, "I don't know it off the top of my head, but   
I think I have it in my portable brain back at the inn."  
  
"Portable brain?" asked Sasami, confused.  
  
"Ah, if I'm not mistaken," said Washu, "you are referring some   
portable record keeping device, right?"  
  
"You got it," I agreed. "In this case it's a small computer. I keep a   
lot of important information in it, just in case of emergency, and I'm pretty   
sure my prescription just happens to be there." I looked up from my broken   
frames and lenses and said, "All I need is just someone to direct me to where   
the eye glasses shop in town is."  
  
"No problem, then," said Tenchi, "we can catch the bus early   
tomorrow morning, and I can show you where - ooof!" Ryoko had just   
nudged her husband rather solidly in the ribs, causing him to catch his breath.  
  
"Now, Tenchi," she said sweetly, "you *know* you and I have   
something very important to do tomorrow morning."  
  
"We do?" he asked, rubbing his arm.  
  
"You do?" echoed Washu with amusement.  
  
"Yes, *mom*," Ryoko said a little less nicely, "we do."  
  
"That's all right," I interjected, "I'm sure if you just tell me where it   
is, I'll be able to find it."  
  
Ryoko shook her head, "No, we can't let you wander around bumping   
into things, especially in town. Sasami can take you instead." Ryoko looked   
over at Sasami. "That all right with you, Sasami?" she asked.  
  
"Uh, yes," she stuttered, "I'd be happy to help Nathaniel out."  
  
I looked over apologetically at her, and she returned a small smile at me.  
  
***  
  
  
Ryoko hummed to herself as she walked along the lake shore after   
dinner. Evening twilight was just beginning to settle over the secluded valley,   
leaving the lake waters twinkling in a ruddy color. Overall, Ryoko had a great   
deal to be happy about. Nathaniel was completely unaware of the deceptions   
being played around him, and the more Ryoko saw of him, the more she liked   
his personality. As entertaining as dropping the young man in the middle of   
the Pacific might have turned out to be, she was satisfied that such actions   
would not be necessary. Looking up at the night sky advancing across the   
horizon, Ryoko decided to head back for the house. With a smile, she   
shimmered and disappeared.  
  
A moment later, Ryoko reappeared outside the front porch. She was   
confident that Nathaniel was up in his room sleeping, so using her abilities   
was not a huge risk at this point. Ryoko was pleasantly surprised, however, to   
see her husband sitting on the porch waiting for her. Tenchi looked up and   
smiled at her arrival.  
  
"Ryoko-san," he said, sliding over to give her room to sit on the porch   
steps, "did you enjoy your walk?" Ryoko slid up beside Tenchi, worming her   
way under his arm while wrapping hers around his waist.  
  
"Mmmm-hmmm," she breathed. "You're warm." Ryoko snuggled up   
closer to her husband while sighing contentedly.  
  
Tenchi smiled down at his pirate wife, trying to think of the best way   
to broach the subject on his mind. If history was a judge, Ryoko had a way of   
taking things out of context to extremes, and the results of their   
misunderstandings could cause incredible headaches for everyone. Tenchi   
grimaced at the thought of some of his attempts at bringing up topics with his   
wife early in their marriage. It was a miracle, as far as Tenchi was concerned,   
that the house had ever survived.  
  
"Beloved, what are you doing to Sasami?" he asked finally.  
  
Ryoko disengaged Tenchi's arm from around her shoulders and sat   
up beside him. "I don't know what you mean," she began, "I've just trying to   
cheer up the princess." She crossed her arms in a slightly defense posture.   
  
"Why, what do you *think* I'm doing?" she asked, her golden eyes   
narrowing.  
  
Tenchi swallowed. This was not starting off well, judging by his   
wife's body language.   
  
"Um, I think you're really trying to make someone we all care about   
happy and carefree," he offered.  
  
"So, what's the problem?"  
  
Tenchi gulped this time. `Oh, well. I've already botched saying this   
tactfully,' he thought.  
  
Looking up at Mercury and Venus already shining brightly in the red   
evening sky, Tenchi pinched his brow searching for the best way to avoid   
making Ryoko crackle with energy.  
  
"Ryoko, do you remember when you and Ayeka both lived here?" he   
started. Ryoko cocked an eye at him.  
  
"Of, course," she said. "It hasn't been that long for me, remember?"  
  
Tenchi nodded, "I know, beloved, so you recall all the plotting and   
competition that went on between the two of you?"  
  
Ryoko managed to look fondly embarrassed at the mention of her and   
Ayeka's rivalry.  
  
"Sure, I remember all the fun *that* was. Sometimes I try to forget   
some of it." Ryoko looked up at Tenchi suspiciously. "What are you getting   
at?"  
  
"Well, it's just that sometimes-"  
  
`Frequently,' his brain added.  
  
"-the two of you became so wrapped up in the competition, you both   
lost site of your goal," Tenchi explained, wondering how Ryoko would take   
the jog down memory lane. "I know the two of you never intended to hurt me   
or each other-"  
  
"That's not true," Ryoko growled, "I *frequently* intended to hurt   
her."  
  
"-*but* it happened on occasion," concluded Tenchi.  
  
Ryoko had a dangerous look in her eyes, so he switched tracks to   
diffuse her anger as quickly as possible, while still getting his point across.  
  
"I know now that between you two, you were always the most genuine   
with your concern for me as a person, and that you would never knowingly   
hurt me or anyone else you love." Tenchi smiled, "Beneath that tough space   
pirate exterior, you're the most loving person I know."  
  
Ryoko had a slightly confused look on her face, as if she could not   
decide on being annoyed or in love with her husband. Tenchi took advantage   
of the moment and plowed on.  
  
"Ayeka was first and foremost a royal princess, and she always   
wanted me to behave like royalty," he continued. "She never really understood   
that was not who I was, but to the end I think she always believed I would   
suddenly become the prince she desired."  
  
Above the two of them, a wind chime sang softly as a light breeze   
wafted past the front of the house.   
  
Tenchi took one of Ryoko's hands in his own and said, "She believed   
that manipulating the situation like court politics would win out for her, but   
she was wrong, wasn't she? Even now, she thinks like the empress she is,   
manipulating Sasami to further the good of the Jurai family."  
  
"Tenchi," Ryoko said quietly, relaxing her hand in his.  
  
Tenchi turned fully to Ryoko and said, "I know you want to help   
Sasami, beloved, we all do. There's nothing I wouldn't do to help her, but this   
is something she has to solve herself, as a princess of Jurai."  
  
"I don't understand," Ryoko argued, "I'm just trying to hook up the   
princess with a nice seeming guy. What's wrong with that?" Her expression   
was one of helpless annoyance.  
  
"Nothing, really," he agreed, "but Sasami will be leaving in less than   
two weeks, right? What happens then? Are we going to let the cat out of the   
bag that Sasami and the rest of us are not exactly of this Earth? And if we do,   
what would that do to the two of them, knowing Sasami must leave so   
quickly?"   
  
Tenchi sighed and looked back across the yard in front of the house.   
"I'm just afraid that if you nudge Sasami any more and she gets attached to   
Nathaniel too much, she'll be in a lot more pain when it comes time for her to   
leave, that's all."  
  
"And how much different would that make me from Ayeka," Ryoko   
concluded, "pushing Sasami in a different direction just to thwart that   
empress?"  
  
"Oh, Ryoko-san," he said, looking up, "that's not what I meant.   
You're not trying to hurt Sasami."  
  
"No," Ryoko disagreed, "I may not mean to, but I'm hurting her in   
the end all the same." Her face became downcast as she sighed. "I guess I just   
hoped Sasami would throw off being a princess pawn to Ayeka if she met   
someone else here."  
  
Ryoko rubbed her head in frustration. "Ahh! Tenchi! I can't explain   
how much it burns me to see that woman taking away our Sasami!"  
  
Tenchi gathered his wife into his arms, whispering, "I know, beloved.   
Really, I know. The only thing we can do is support Sasami's decisions and   
trust her to do what's best for herself."  
  
"Because of me, we can't even accompany her to Jurai, can we?" she   
asked suddenly. "Seven hundred years isn't long enough for the royal houses   
on Jurai to forget my attack on the palace, is it? Even if I *was* under the   
influence of Kagato."  
  
Tenchi looked down at his wife thoughtfully.  
  
"No," he sighed, "I think that goes for both of us. I made it known   
quite clearly that I wanted no part of Jurai or being a royal heir to the throne   
so I could stay on Earth and marry you. I'm probably not much more   
welcome, either."  
  
Ryoko was quiet for a while.  
  
Finally, she said, "I guess I'll stop pushing on Sasami so obviously. I   
mean, if *you* noticed, I must have been fairly tactless."  
  
"Hey, now," Tenchi said, with a feigned look of hurt.  
  
"Don't worry, my prince," she laughed, "I wouldn't have you any   
other way."  
  
Settling into Tenchi's embrace, Ryoko grew thoughtful again.   
  
"Tenchi," she asked, "what if Sasami and Nathaniel start to work   
things out on their own? I mean, Sasami already gets a far away gaze now and   
again when he's around, and even though he can't see clearly, he obviously   
enjoys talking with her."  
  
"I don't know, Ryoko," he admitted. "It's only been a day, and   
maybe there's so little time left that nothing will happen."  
  
"I seem to remember both a demon space pirate and a haughty   
princess falling for *you* in under a week."  
  
"I know, please don't remind me," joked Tenchi, receiving a well   
deserved tweak on his nose.  
  
***  
  
  
There was always something Sasami found comforting about washing   
and drying dishes by herself after any one of the nightly feeding frenzies at the   
Masaki residence. Truthfully, since the population at the house had decreased   
with Ayeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi's departures years ago, the toll pushed on   
the in-house cook had been lightened significantly. Especially with Mihoshi.   
There were days when Sasami could not understand where the bubble-headed   
Galaxy Police captain stored all the food she crammed in her mouth.  
  
Covered in an apron, Sasami repeatedly plunged her hands in the   
plugged up sink, removing the leftovers of her various concoctions from the   
more delicate pieces of dish ware. Sasami was *not* a glutton for   
punishment, however; a good majority of the dinner items automatically found   
their way each night into the dishwasher without fail. There was just   
something about the motions of cleaning some of the dishes by hand that   
refreshed Sasami's spirit. Wiping away the grease and grime of the day's   
meal, leaving a shiny and pure plate, was something of a metaphor for her   
soul.   
  
Removing the last dish from the soapy bath in the sink, Sasami rinsed   
and attacked it with a vengeance using her drying towel. Wiping away the last   
of the water as if it were all the problems in the world that could be brushed   
aside effortlessly, she finally eased up and settled the dish in a small drying   
rack with its mates. Sasami then stepped back and wiped her brow, leaving a   
tiny soapy trail across the two small marks on her forehead. Her large, bright   
eyes narrowed a bit as she chewed her bottom lip softly in thought.  
  
`I wonder if it's too late,' she wondered. `But then again, I'll be gone   
tomorrow morning.'  
  
Clucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth in decision,   
Sasami undid the back of her apron and folded it with purpose.  
  
"Meow-meow."  
  
"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking down at the Ryo-ohki. "There you   
are." Sasami reached down and picked the cabbit up gently, stroking her fur.   
"I've missed you today, did you know that?"  
  
"Meow-meow," Ryo-ohki affirmed. "Meow?"  
  
"Sure, it's safe to be out now," nodded the princess. "Our guest went   
to bed early tonight. He still has a lot of his strength to gather."  
  
The cabbit looked relieved and relaxed into Sasami's arms. She   
looked down at Ryo-ohki getting comfortable.  
  
"Say, Ryo-chan," whispered Sasami, "I don't feel like walking by   
myself. Would you like to come with me?"  
  
Ryo-ohki looked up happily at the princess and snuggled further into   
her arms.  
  
"Guess that's a yes," Sasami giggled.  
  
Holding Ryo-ohki in one arm, the princess walked over and turned   
the kitchen lights off, so that the only remaining light shone from a small   
fixture above the sink. Giving the kitchen a last once-over in the semi-  
darkness, Sasami opened the kitchen door and stepped outside into the night   
air.  
  
It was another warm evening in the mountains, but dark clouds were   
starting to build in the far distance, blotting out some of the stars. As Sasami   
stood out beside the house on a small deck, she could feel a warm breeze   
coming from the direction of the clouds. Through the darkness, now and   
again, she could spy brief flashes of light, indicating the approach of scattered   
thunderstorms that had spawned elsewhere earlier in the day. They were still   
very far away in the distance, so much so that neither Sasami nor Ryo-ohki   
could hear even the tiniest hint of thunder. Sasami made a decision.  
  
"I think we can be back in time before those clouds make it to us,"   
she calculated. "We should be fine."  
  
Ryo-ohki purred in agreement.   
  
"You don't care, just as long as someone rubs you behind the ears,   
right?"  
  
Ryo-ohki nodded vehemently in agreement, causing Sasami to   
chuckle. Her facial features softened their tension considerably as she looked   
back up over the sky.   
  
"Wouldn't hurt to hurry, though."  
  
With that, the princess stepped off the deck and began walking up a   
path in the darkness towards the massive staircase leading up the side of the   
mountain. At first the lights still coming from the house were more than   
enough to guide her way, but as the shadows deepened around her as she   
passed under some trees, Sasami grew less confident of her steps. The   
encroaching clouds were obscuring the moonlight and starlight, making it   
difficult to distinguish any obstacles in her path. Pausing for a moment,   
Sasami peered about in the darkness, listening to the cicadas sing out from   
various trees around her as if they sensed a growing heaviness in the air.  
  
Sasami listened for a moment more before closing her eyes with a   
sigh. Still holding Ryo-ohki firmly, she began to chant softly in the darkness.  
  
"Spirits of the Earth," she whispered, "life that lives eternal in trees,   
grant me your power to illuminate my way."  
  
With her eyes still closed, Sasami repeated her mantra several times.   
Sensing power gathering about her, Ryo-ohki cautiously lifted one of her eyes   
and peered out into the darkness. Suddenly, both of her eyes popped opened in   
amazement.  
  
Falling gently from the leaves of the trees were tiny whips of light,   
each a speck of soft blue cutting through the dark night. At first, only a few of   
the droplets of light came down from the canopy above them, but as Sasami   
continued to whisper her chant, gathering more of her power, the little lights   
increased. Descending down, they quietly surrounded the princess and the   
amazed cabbit, dancing about them slowly and piercing the night for a few feet   
in every direction.  
  
"Me-ooooow!" exclaimed the cabbit.  
  
Sasami stopped her chanting and opened her eyes to see the results of   
her work. She smiled at the lights softly dancing around them, pleased with   
the outcome.  
  
"Yep," she said, "I'll have to agree with you, Ryo-chan. Maybe I've   
been ignoring some of Tsunami's - no... ignoring some of *my* abilities for   
too long."  
  
Sasami paused for a bit to watch the blue lights swirl slowly around   
them. They were very comforting, and they ensured Sasami would not   
stumble on her hike up the stairs to the Masaki shrine. The thought of the   
climb piqued her for a second.  
  
"Maybe I should concentrate on that flying thing," she considered   
ruefully. "I don't see Yui or Ryoko-san complaining about it very much."   
  
With that in mind, Sasami continued to the foot of the stone staircase   
and began her long hike up, holding a furry Ryo-ohki who was well on her   
way to falling asleep in the comfort of the princess's arms.  
  
"Oh, sure," Sasami mentioned quietly, "no problem for you. You're   
going to sit right there and let *me* do all the work, ne?"  
  
Ryo-ohki yawned in response.  
  
"Thought so." She continued on, her lights faithfully keeping pace.  
  
As she worked her way up the stairs, a slightly stronger breeze made   
its way past, stirring her long hair with a little more force this time. Through   
the trees, Sasami thought she could see distant flashes occurring more   
frequently, now, but she still could not hear the rapport of thunder. She   
decided to take advantage of her glowing light sources, however, and   
proceeded to quicken her pace up the stairs a bit. Several minutes later, she   
reached the top of the stairs, huffing noticeably from her efforts. Looking   
around while catching her breath, Sasami spied a couple of lights still on   
inside the shrine.  
  
"Whew! Oh, boy," she panted, brushing an errant lock of hair from   
her forehead, "that does it. Flying lessons begin for me as soon as possible."   
  
Recouping her breath, she walked towards the shrine, stopping to rap   
her knuckles lightly on the door before entering.  
  
"Come in, Sasami-chan," a voiced quietly responded from inside the   
shrine.  
  
Sasami slid open the door and entered the building, pausing to   
remove her sandals. Sliding her foot wear off, she slid the door shut and   
padded across the floor to where Yosho was seated. Sasami smiled at her half-  
brother and sat down beside him.  
  
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, depositing the now   
sleeping Ryo-ohki in her lap. "Another example of your never-ending   
training?"  
  
Yosho lifted a cup of tea to his lips, taking a small pull.  
  
"Actually," he replied in all seriousness, "I heard you talking to   
yourself outside the door quite loudly." He sipped from his tea again. "They   
say on television that such activity is the first sign of madness."  
  
Sasami's attractive face pouted slightly as she said, "Well, that's   
entirely understandable, since I feel like I'm two shades shy from going mad   
right now."  
  
"Ah," the older looking prince of Jurai nodded, "you are here to carry   
on our interrupted conversation from earlier this afternoon."  
  
Yosho placed his tea cup down on the small table in front of them and   
reached for another cup, pouring Sasami some tea. "For someone so young,   
you seem to have a great weight on your shoulders, but I think I can   
understand why."  
  
Sasami looked up. "You've heard, then?" she asked softly.  
  
"Indeed," he replied, folding his arms across his chest with the ever   
present serious look on his face. "Tenchi relayed to me all the basic points of   
your situation."  
  
Yosho pinched his gray eyebrows and said, "I take it you are not at all   
thrilled with the arrangements Ayeka has decided to make for you?"  
  
She shook her head, then stopped. "I-I really don't know," the   
princess admitted. "After all, it is my duty as a royal princess to marry   
someone suitable."  
  
Sasami's voice became quiet as she trailed off into depressed thought.   
Yosho observed the princess for several moments, considering her.  
  
"That really does not sound like an attitude the young Sasami-chan   
would have ever adopted," he said. "The young Sasami-chan would have been   
completely excited about performing another duty as a royal princess.   
However," he continued, "that little girl has obviously changed in many ways   
while maturing."  
  
"Sometimes," Sasami nodded, "sometimes I feel like people don't   
realize that I am different, almost as if they don't want to let go of the little   
girl they remember."  
  
Yosho shook his head at the princess, "Hmm, that could be part of the   
problem, but I think there is something else you should consider."  
  
"Something else?" echoed Sasami as Yosho sipped more of his tea.   
  
He set his cup down.  
  
"I wonder who is truly reluctant to let go of the little Sasami-chan,"   
he mused, "members of our family, or, deep down in your heart, yourself?"  
  
Sasami adopted a confused look on her face, not comprehending what   
Yosho was trying to communicate. She absently began stroking the sleeping   
cabbit in her lap.  
  
"Have you stopped to consider that maybe it is you who most desires   
to see yourself as a child again?" he asked. "That little girl never seemed to   
experience much in the way on indecision in her life. She was always a light-  
hearted Sasami-chan that had no greater desire than to have a wonderful time,   
and most of that wonder came directly from the excitement of being a   
princess."   
  
Yosho paused to scratch the side of one of his arms momentarily   
before continuing. "Perhaps the start of your journey in understanding your   
feelings in this matter is to examine what has changed that little princess into   
the young woman you are today."  
  
"I just don't understand," she admitted unhappily, "what do you   
mean?"  
  
"Obviously," he elaborated, "you are no longer totally comfortable   
with the image of being a dutiful princess of Jurai. The path you should   
embark on, then, is to examine what in your life has led to your change of   
heart. Once you find that change in yourself, you can decide if you want to   
keep it or not."  
  
Sasami bunched her brow, thinking hard. "But, if I've already   
changed, how could I decide whether or not I just want to keep who I am?   
And who would I become, instead?"  
  
"Hmm, well that is the real question," admitted Yosho. "One might   
argue that a change takes place because it is necessary, and therefore should be   
accepted unquestioningly. In your case, however, to accept the changes in   
yourself might end in direct opposition to the life you are required to lead and   
the duties you are to perform."  
  
"What do I do if that happens?" she asked, with a sinking feeling.  
  
"You must either give up that person which you have become to be a   
princess," concluded Yosho, "or you must give up being a dutiful princess so   
that you can embrace the woman you are."  
  
"Must it be a choice?" cried Sasami. "Why can't I be who I am now   
*and* a royal princess who fulfills her duties?"  
  
"Dearest Sasami-chan," Yosho comforted, "if the solution were truly   
that simple, there would never be the conflict that now settles so deeply in your   
heart."  
  
Sasami heard her half-brother's words and felt the truth of them ring   
clear like a bell in her soul.  
  
Wiping away at her eyes gently, she replied softly, "I think I   
understand now. I guess I've been hoping someone would make my decision   
for me or show me an easy option to allow things to stay as they have been   
these past years."   
  
With a growing resolve in her gaze, Sasami looked directly at Yosho.   
"The only other option is to make my sister and the members of the other   
noble houses of Jurai see *me* differently, no longer as a princess expected to   
conform to royal duties, but as an independent princess in control of her own   
destiny."   
  
She looked down at her tea cup in contemplation.  
  
"That isn't likely to happen is it, Yosho-san?" she asked in a small   
voice.  
  
"No," he admitted, sighing. "The noble houses of Jurai have their   
own ideas of what is expected from the royal house, and they are not known   
for changing their positions."   
  
A look of regret came over Yosho's features, and he said, "Much to   
my own heartache did I learn how immutable and biased such positions can be   
towards a prince of Jurai. I was forced to make a terrible choice at the time. It   
is not a choice I would wish upon you."  
  
The princess searched Yosho's face intensely, watching the regret on   
his face slowly fade away into his more common stoic expression.  
  
"Do you ever miss Jurai?" she asked compassionately.  
  
"Hmm," he pondered, "once upon a time I missed Jurai intensely.   
But after a while, enough time passed for me to see the beauty and splendor of   
my new home, and also to appreciate the freedom I had over my own destiny.   
From that point, I have never missed Jurai or desired to return. This is my   
beloved home now, perhaps more so than Jurai ever was."  
  
Sasami stared off at a far wall of the shrine, her mind suddenly quiet   
of its fears and insecurities. Finally she spoke.  
  
"I hope," she whispered, "I hope that when the time comes I can be as   
strong and true to myself as you have been, Yosho-niichan."  
  
Flashing a rare smile, he replied, "When the time comes, Sasami-  
chan, I have no doubt you will have all the strengths you will require to make   
the right decision for yourself."  
  
She could only nod at his confidence in her. A moment of silence   
passed between the two of them as neither moved. Outside, barely audible in   
the far distance, the first rumble of thunder could be heard echoing off the   
mountain sides. It also sounded as if the wind's strength might be on the   
increase, as a stronger gust would occasionally brush past the shrine. Yosho   
looked thoughtfully at the door.  
  
"As much as I appreciate your keeping an old man company," he   
said, getting up and taking the tea cups away from the table, "perhaps you   
should be returning to the house." Another rumble of thunder penetrated the   
building. "You do not want to be running down those steps in the rain,   
especially with Ryo-ohki in hand."  
  
Sasami smoothly rose to her feet, barely disturbing the snoozing   
cabbit. Despite the perturbed expression on her face, she attempted to lighten   
the mood of the room.  
  
"Company, hmm? Well, *someone* has to come up here now and   
again to make sure moss isn't growing on you," she said with a smile. "It just   
happens to be my turn this month, that's all."  
  
"Moss, eh?" replied Yosho as he quirked an eyebrow. "Perhaps you   
would enjoy one of my morning training sessions. I could impress upon you   
how fast this old stone rolls."  
  
Sasami wisely thought better of taking him up on his offer.  
  
***  
  
  
Nathaniel woke up to the sound of falling rain. Granted, that did sound   
like a lyric from every fourth country song ever made, but nevertheless that was   
what he heard at some point in the predawn hours of the morning. Laying there   
in bed, in the blue darkness, Nathaniel rolled my head to one side and considered   
one of life's greater curiosities.  
  
`Why is it that the other three-fourths of country songs,' he asked   
himself, `always deal with drinking alcohol, cheating on a girl, or a good pick-  
up truck?'  
  
Some of life's mysteries are just too terrifying to confront, so he   
decided to let that train of thought derail. Nathaniel rolled his head gently   
over on his pillow towards with window and continued to listen to the steady,   
soft rush of water running off the roof to the ground below. Despite the fact   
that he was comfortably warm and thankfully dry, listening to the amount of rainfall   
coming down, hid mind did calmly run through hid present situation in a dreamy   
haze.  
  
Nathaniel decided he was in trouble.  
  
His glasses were smashed with no hope of repair, and as far as getting   
around anywhere that required me to be able to read signs or gauge traffic, he   
was now completely incapable of doing so. There *was* according to Tenchi,   
a shop in the nearby town where Nathaniel could order a new pair, if he had his   
prescription. However, based on the small size of the town, he was willing to   
bet that the shop probably sent orders out to some lab in a bigger city to be   
ground. If the process was anything resembling what it was in America, he   
could expect to wait anywhere from five to seven days for a new pair of glasses   
to show up. Bringing his good hand up to his forehead, Nathaniel grimaced at   
the thought of being stranded in town for a week unable to see properly.  
  
He sighed with annoyance at the realization he was now firmly awake,   
instead of almost asleep. Reaching over to the little table by the bed, Nathaniel   
snagged his clock and peered at the glow-in-the-dark hands. It was five fifteen.   
Perfect. Not enough time to try and go back to sleep, but still too early for   
him to really think about getting up and around. To make matters worse, his   
stomach decided to pick that moment to growl in a disgruntled fashion.  
  
"Oh, forget it," he grumbled out loud, as he swung his feet slowly out   
from underneath the covers and over the side of the bed.  
  
Sitting on the side of the bed for a few minutes staring out into the   
darkness, he gave himself one last chance to try and fall back asleep. It was   
not happening.  
  
Erupting a fairly huge yawn, Nathaniel gave in to Fate and slowly stood   
up and stretched as best as his body would allow. Things still ached this   
morning, but it was not quite as bad as before. Maybe that was a good sign for   
the day, he thought. At any rate, Nathaniel padded out of his room in the dark,   
making my way to the bathroom.  
  
`Might as well clean myself up,' he thought sleepily to himself, `no   
point in getting in anyone else's way if I can help it.'  
  
***  
  
  
"Eeeeeee-yaaaaaaaah!" yawned Sasami, leaning over the kitchen   
sink. The first summer rays of sunshine were just starting to pour over the   
mountains, indicating yet another beautiful day after the previous evening's   
rain.  
  
"Isn't that usually my line?" asked an amused Ryoko.  
  
Sasami finished yawning and went back to her breakfast preparations.   
"Actually," she said offhandedly, "I can't remember you ever being up this   
early on a regular basis to even *have* a line."  
  
"Ouch, princess," smiled Ryoko. "You know, you're getting much   
better at snippy comebacks. Sure you don't want to be a space pirate?"  
  
"You have *no* idea how seriously I've been considering just that,"   
Sasami grimaced. "Dashing about the galaxy, the Galaxy Police hot on my   
heels. Sounds infinitely more interesting than, say, Princess Sasami, royal   
brood mare."   
  
Ryoko's laugh was brought up short as she involuntarily inhaled   
some of the tea she was sipping. Her eyes streaming, Ryoko flailed about the   
kitchen choking on the hot beverage that had just gone up her nose.  
  
"Drink tea often?" sweetly asked the princess.  
  
Ryoko coughed, "Why, uh, what would ever give you that idea?"  
  
"Must be your technique."  
  
"Oi! Sasami," Ryoko said, quirking an eyebrow, "you're in rare   
sarcastic form this morning. Feeling well?"  
  
Sasami hefted a pot off of a hot stove eye and set it aside to cool with   
a small grunt, "Sure, I'm feeling fine. Just a bit... how should I put this?   
Aggressive?"  
  
Ryoko clapped her hands together, "Now, *that's* what I like to hear   
from a young woman early in the morning! Although... there is something I   
wanted to tell you today, Sasami."  
  
"Mmm-hmm?" Sasami mumbled, rolling a bit of bread dough.  
  
Ryoko cleared her throat, "Well, it's just- ah, that is, Sasami."  
  
Sasami squinted at the pirate in apprehension.  
  
"Ryoko, did you scorch one of my pots again?" The princess sighed,   
"You *always* let the water boil away!"  
  
"Uh, no, actually," Ryoko disagreed, looking away slightly as she   
scratched her chin.  
  
"You realize you've picked up that nervous chin scratching look from   
Tenchi, ne?"  
  
"Eh? Oh, I guess you may be right," Ryoko admitted with a dreamy look   
on her face as she pushed back a long lock of cyan colored hair.  
  
Sasami rolled her eyes and went back to her dough. Ryoko caught the   
look and folded her arms.  
  
"Actually, princess, I wanted to apologize this morning."  
  
Sasami wiped the flour off her hands and slid the dough into an oven.   
"Apologize?" she asked. "Whatever for?"  
  
"Well, I think I may have been a little manipulative the last two   
days," admitted Ryoko, "especially last night at dinner with regards to our   
house guest."   
  
Ryoko set her tea down and looked steadily at Sasami, "If you don't   
want to escort Nathaniel into town today, Tenchi would be more than happy to   
go instead. I more or less dumped him into your lap without evening bothering to   
ask if you wanted go."  
  
Sasami finished fiddling with the oven controls and wandered over to   
the table where Ryoko was sitting.   
  
"Ryoko," Sasami said as she took a seat with a little plop, "it doesn't   
bother me at all. Why do you think it would?"  
  
"Well, I know you are being forced to go to Jurai by Ayeka for this   
silly husband mess," Ryoko said, looking very uncomfortable, "and it came to   
my attention that I might be just as controlling, forcing you to tag along with   
Nathaniel."  
  
She looked up at Sasami. "You see what I'm getting at?"  
  
"Hmm, that essentially you feel guilty for trying to get me stuck on a   
cute Earthling, because that makes you think you're pretty much like sister   
Ayeka?"  
  
"I don't know that I'd go *that* far," grumbled Ryoko, "but yeah,   
pretty much, princess."  
  
Ryoko's eyes then perked up, "Hey, wait a second - did you just say he   
was *cute*?"  
  
Sasami blushed just a bit. "I don't know," she tried to evade casually,   
"did I?"  
  
"I think you did," Ryoko seriously nodded. "What did *you* hear,   
Nathaniel?" she asked, looking pointedly over Sasami's shoulder.  
  
"Eh??" Sasami yelped, spinning her body around violently in the   
direction Ryoko was looking. Lost for breath, Sasami's mouth was agape as   
she realized no one was there.  
  
"RYOKO!" Sasami whined.  
  
"What?" Ryoko asked, her eyes wide and innocent.  
  
***  
  
  
"No, really," a pair of almost feral lavender eyes blinked at me,   
"what's it like living in America?"  
  
Looking up through my fuzzy vision, I saw Yui facing me over the   
back of her bus seat, arms crossed on the head rest and supporting her chin.   
After being extremely nervous around me at the bus stop, and a few kind and   
reassuring words from my direction, Yui had quickly opened up and begun to   
do what she did best:   
  
Chatter.  
  
"Really," I said back to her from my seat, "it's pretty much like living   
in Japan, except it's larger, a little less expensive, and a little less clean in the   
cities."  
  
Apparently, that did not suffice her curiosity very much as she   
slouched down in her seat a bit, making a disappointed sound.  
  
"Maybe if you were a little more specific, Yui?" offered Sasami, who   
was sitting on my left. "I don't think anyone could describe all the differences   
between two places like America and Japan."  
  
Sasami had been fairly quiet most of the morning since I had come   
down for breakfast at the Masaki residence. I did not know how to gage her   
personality yet, and not being to read her expression was not helping either.   
The talkative young woman who had changed my bandages the day before   
seemed to be elsewhere and at times a little on the grouchy side. So, I had   
begun chatting with Yui, who, after being convinced I was not mad at her for   
almost killing me, carried on an almost constant conversation.  
  
"Well," pondered Yui, "are there really cowboys in America who,   
like, ride horses and live on ranches?"  
  
"Cowboys?" I repeated. That sure sounded like an odd thing someone   
from Japan would ask. "Sure, there are plenty of cowboys in the western   
states. However, they don't do a lot of the things you'd imagine, I bet."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well, they don't have gun fights or fight Indians or anything else   
you've seen in a movie," I explained. "Mainly, the cowboys have always lived   
out in remote places, looking after their ranches on horseback, truck, or even   
helicopter."  
  
Yui chewed on that for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I kind of figured they didn't do all that movie stuff you see   
anymore," she admitted, tossing her mane of hair to the side. "Do they still   
get to live in really huge empty places?"  
  
"Yep, they still do," I nodded, wincing a bit as the bus hit a bump.   
"I've been to a lot of those places in the west like Wyoming, Nevada,   
Montana, and Arizona. You can drive for hours and hours across open range   
and never see another person at all."  
  
"Wow," said Yui thoughtfully, "you've gotten to go to places like   
that. That's really cool. I've always wanted to live out someplace under the   
stars, with a ranch house and a horse... *and* a cowboy."  
  
Sasami seemed to be surprised by this revelation, "You've never   
mentioned anything like this before, Yui. When did you get so interested in   
cowboys?"  
  
"I dunno, aunt Sasami," she admitted, "they just look so strong and   
quiet and handsome, not like the dork guys at school. I guess I just want to see   
someplace vast and unexplored where I can live on my own, too."  
  
"Be in charge of your own destiny, or something like that?" I asked   
Yui.  
  
Yui leaned her head sideways on her crossed arms and thought.   
"Yeah," she mumbled, "a place like the mountains here, but... I dunno.   
Someplace I've never been to."  
  
"In charge of your own destiny," echoed Sasami wistfully.  
  
"Are you dreaming of western skies, too?" I asked Sasami.  
  
"Hmm, not exactly," she said, looking away, "but it does sound nice.   
A place where you don't have to live by someone else's leave."  
  
As Sasami stared out into space, Yui looked at her and made a   
sighing noise. At that moment I felt like I had walked into an uncomfortable   
area of conversation judging by Sasami's cryptic remarks, so I beat a hasty   
retreat to a safer topic.  
  
"So, Yui," I said, with a bit over overly feigned interest, "what's   
school like in Japan?"  
  
"Boring," Yui stated.  
  
"Doesn't sound too much different from America," I sympathized.  
  
***  
  
  
Sasami and Nathaniel got off the bus when it reached town, stepping   
down swiftly and waving to Yui as it took off again.  
  
"She has to go even further every day to get to school?" Nathaniel   
asked in amazement as he watched the bus disappear with Yui.  
  
Sasami watched the bus depart as well and nodded. "Yes, but it's not   
too much further away. That's why not many folks live deep in the   
mountains."  
  
Reaching down, she then hefted Nathaniel's backpack and slung it on   
her shoulders.  
  
"Shall we go?" she asked quickly.  
  
"Um, yeah," Nathaniel responded. "That pack is really large for   
you," he said a little worried, "I could easily carry it on my good arm."  
  
Sasami shook her head and said, "Don't even think about it. It's not   
heavy at all."  
  
With that she started walking in the general direction of the town's   
inn. Nathaniel had to trot to catch up with her.  
  
For the next ten minutes, the pair trudged through town in silence.   
Sasami continued to plow ahead a good speed, even while going uphill, while   
Nathaniel struggled to keep up. Finding it hard to negotiate curbs on the   
sidewalk and suffering due to his disorientation from not being able to see, he   
stumbled along behind her slightly, his shoulder aching from the effort.   
  
Nathaniel more than once thought about asking Sasami to slow down   
some, so he could pick his way more easily, but the non-communicative   
attitude she had adopted since they had left that morning seemed only to have   
become more prevalent in town. Finally, after bumping into someone with his   
hurt shoulder in the center of the town square, Nathaniel spoke up.  
  
"Hey, uh, Sasami!" he called up in front of him, his face slightly red   
and perspiring.  
  
"What?" Sasami responded shortly, turning around with a slight look   
of annoyance that Nathaniel could not see.  
  
Even though her features were blurry, Nathaniel quickly picked up on   
her tone.  
  
"Look," he began, "I'm really sorry that you had to get up this   
morning to baby sit me into town, but I'm getting kind of dizzy, and I really   
need to sit down for a minute."  
  
The look across Sasami's face went from annoyance to guilt as she   
adjusted the weight of his backpack. Letting her shoulders slump a bit, she   
walked back to Nathaniel and assessed him.  
  
"There's a bench over there," she indicated with a nod of her head,   
"will rest there until you feel better. We're only another ten minute walk or so   
from the inn, anyway. No need to rush, I guess."  
  
Making sure she was not leaving Nathaniel behind this time, Sasami   
headed over to an empty bench in the town square. Reaching the bench, she   
slid off the pack and took a seat. Nathaniel eased onto the bench beside her,   
but obviously putting as much distance between them as possible. Taking a   
deep breath and adjusting his bandaged shoulder, he slouched a little as he   
tried to recoup some strength. Sasami looked away from him out across the   
square and chewed her bottom lip unhappily.  
  
`There you go,' she thought to herself, `the guy was just unlucky   
enough to get smacked by Yui, and here you are giving him a hard time just   
because *you're* feeling pissy.'  
  
Letting the breath slide out of her slowly, Sasami eased forward and   
placed her elbows on her legs and her chin in her hands. Watching the people   
pass them in the square in the early morning bustle, she finally spoke.  
  
"I really want to apologize to you, Nathaniel," she offered, still   
looking forward.  
  
Nathaniel opened his eyes from where he had been concentrating on   
getting his second wind. "There's no need," he said, "it was just an accident,   
and you and your family have been very kind to-"  
  
"No, that's not what I mean," she interrupted. "I want to apologize   
for being so rude to you this morning. You've been nothing but nice since the   
bus stop back home, and I. I've just been a grouch."   
  
"Oh," replied Nathaniel, not really knowing how to respond to her   
statement. He really did not think it would be wise to say anything that might   
sound like he was agreeing with her assessment.  
  
"I don't know," he said evasively.  
  
"No," Sasami sighed, "I really have been, and you're just being a   
gentleman again not to agree with me. As a matter of fact, you've been a   
gentleman ever since you woke up yesterday."  
  
"I have?" he asked, still a little off guard by her apology.  
  
She nodded, "Sure you have. I mean, you were knocked down a   
flight of stone stairs by my niece, cut up, bruised, and had your glasses   
smashed. Yet, ever since I came in to change your bandages yesterday, you've   
been good humored about the whole thing."  
  
A strange look came over Sasami's face as she turned her head in her   
hands towards him. "Why is that?"  
  
Nathaniel relaxed back against the bench and thought over her   
question seriously.  
  
"Well, I guess it's because there was nothing I could do about it," he   
offered. "I mean, I'm not *thrilled* Yui ran into me, but there's no point in   
getting upset about it. It was out of my control, so all I can do is make the best   
of it, especially since your family has been so kind since I woke up."  
  
"Gee," Sasami sighed, sitting back up on the bench, "you have a   
really good attitude. Mine's been pretty low lately, as you've probably   
noticed."  
  
Once again refraining from making a verbal judgment, Nathaniel   
asked, "It has? Why is that?"  
  
Sasami started chewing her bottom lip again, not wanting to give   
away her secret identity, but at the same time wanting desperately someone to   
talk to who was not part of her family.  
  
"I, uh, have to go back home real soon," she said unhappily, "and I   
really don't want to go."  
  
"You like living here." It was not a question.  
  
Sasami sighed and brushed a hand back through her hair. "Very   
much so. There are much worse places I could be," she mused.  
  
"True," Nathaniel agreed, "you could be kidnapped by space aliens   
and whisked away to another planet. I hear the medical tests and body probes   
they perform on people suck."  
  
Sasami slapped her hand over her mouth and stared at Nathaniel with   
huge eyes. A vein began to stand out on her forehead.  
  
Nathaniel raised an eyebrow, "Did I say something wrong?"  
  
A gale of laughter erupted from behind Sasami's hand as she could   
no longer hold it in. Gasping for breath she leaned forward and continued to   
chortle as if, at least as it appeared to Nathaniel, she were losing her sanity.   
Wiping her eyes, Sasami finally sat back up in the bench and tried to catch her   
breath.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, peering at her through squinting eyes.  
  
  
Nathaniel adopted a look of relief, "That's good. I was afraid you   
were going to say you were offended at first, because your father was an alien   
or something strange like that."  
  
Sasami let her head fall backwards and face the sky as she began to   
giggle furiously. For some strange reason, hearing a human make light of   
`imaginary' aliens just made her feel entirely light hearted.  
  
At the moment, that human was scratching his head, wondering if the   
young woman next to him was really as strange as she was acting.  
  
***  
  
  
Mayuka Masaki was bored.  
  
*Really* bored.  
  
Sitting in a comfortable and large command chair gazing at a sizable   
screen in front of her, she gazed at the pale blue planet turning slowly above;   
one of the most advanced patrol cruisers in the Galaxy Police fleet was baby   
sitting a lifeless planet. Slapping her hand up to her forehead, Mayuka   
groaned loudly.  
  
"Grr, Kiyone," she said out loud, "you didn't tell me it'd be   
*anything* like this."  
  
Bringing her hand down slightly, she started to rub her eyes while   
trying to sling one leg up and over an armrest. Shoulder cropped hair that had   
been pushed back from her face earlier took this opportunity to slide back   
down in an attempt to console the despondent young woman. Looking   
through her fingers at the view screen, Mayuka pondered Major Kiyone's   
exactly wording from three weeks earlier.  
  
"If you really are considering joining the Galaxy Police," Major   
Kiyone had said, "then you should really see the worst side of it before you   
make a final decision."  
  
At the time it had made perfect sense to Mayuka. Hop a Galaxy   
Police space cruiser and experience the seedy side of being an officer. The   
danger- all the gritty, torrid action of the galaxy. What could be worse than   
experiencing that for a few weeks? Nothing right?  
  
The major had something else in mind, however. Spend the time   
aboard a Galaxy Police cruiser in the outer ranges beyond the Solar system,   
patrolling the restricted zone of Jurai space, one of the most quiet and boring   
places in the galaxy.  
  
With Captain Mihoshi.  
  
"Please," Mayuka begged, "someone knock me out."  
  
Though she had known Mihoshi for her entire life, nothing   
imaginable had prepared Mayuka for dealing with the captain in the dead of   
space in a relatively small space craft for three weeks. More than once she had   
been amazed that Kiyone would send an officer with the rank of captain out on   
such a trivial patrol, but the more Mayuka experienced the mind boggling   
silliness that was Mihoshi, the more she realized the major was probably just   
trying to preserve her *own* sanity.  
  
A vaguely cylindrical object with two focusing lenses for eyes   
dropped out of the bulkhead above her and `cleared' its throat.  
  
"Ahem," the computer said, "I am sorry, Miss Mayuka, but I am   
unable to comply with your request."  
  
Responding to yet another groan from the young woman, the   
computer searched its data bases rapidly for anything that might be of use.  
  
"Miss Mayuka," chimed the computer brightly.  
  
"Wha?" she muttered.  
  
"While I am unable to render you unconscious by impact," apologized   
the little computer, "I have researched my data banks and referenced an option   
utilized by Major Kiyone in similar situations that you may find useful."  
  
"You-you have?" Mayuka raised her eyebrows in hope. "What is it,   
Corolla?"  
  
Corolla looked down at her and beamed, "It is called a Hurricane! It   
involves mixing three parts fruit juice to four parts Earth rum. Major Kiyone   
has listed it as a `certified method of escaping Captain Mihoshi for several   
hours'."  
  
The computer's eyes unfocused as it searched for more data.  
  
"She continues to say in the report that at least three dosages are   
usually sufficient," it offered helpfully.  
  
Mayuka could have cried.  
  
"And *where* am I going to find Earth rum on a police cruiser?" she   
demanded unhappily.  
  
"Searching records," Corolla announced. "Search completed. There   
is generally a supply of small quantities of alcohol on board all Galaxy Police   
vessels patrolling deep space -"   
  
"Excellent!" exclaimed Mayuka, raising a fist.  
  
"-however, by direct order of Major Kiyone, directive 5912-A-12, all   
alcoholic beverages prohibited aboard the Captain Mihoshi's space cruiser for   
the duration of Miss Mayuka Masaki's excursion. End of record."  
  
"Couldn't you *pleeeeeeeze* knock me out?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss-" Corolla started to apologize again, when the little   
computer cut itself off.  
  
"Proximity alert!" it said suddenly in an authoritative voice, making   
Mayuka jump out of her skin.  
  
"W-what is it?" she asked breathlessly.  
  
"Long range scanners have detected an unauthorized craft entering   
the restricted zone of Jurai space," Corolla reported quickly.   
  
As it spoke new screens of information began to spring up all around   
the main view. "All efforts at identification are unsuccessful. The craft   
appears to be running in a passive stealth mode at an unusually high rate of   
speed for this sector."  
  
"ALL RIGHT!" yelled Mayuka enthusiastically, "Finally, some   
excitement! I bet it's a pirate making a contraband run!"  
  
Corolla blinked and disagreed, "There is not enough evidence to   
make such a conclusion at this time. However, the craft is traveling in   
restricted space under suspicious and highly advanced attempts to remain   
concealed. Any legitimate and authorized vessel traveling in this area of space   
would also be emitting a flight code we could identify."  
  
Slamming the palms of her hands down on the ships console in   
excitement, Mayuka squeaked, "Please say they don't have a code!"  
  
"Affirmative. No code being transmitted from unknown craft."  
  
Mayuka flopped back into one of the command chairs and whooped   
out loud in near hysteria.  
  
Taking a deep breath with a gleam in her lavender eyes, she asked,   
"Great! So what do we do now?"  
  
Corolla answered without a pause, "The commander of this space   
cruiser, Captain Mihoshi, initiates a pursuit of the unknown craft while   
reporting the situation to headquarters."  
  
"Corolla, notify Mihoshi of the situation immediately and begin, uh,   
doing whatever it is you do when you're about to chase someone!"  
  
Corolla shook its head apologetically. "I'm sorry, Miss Mayuka. All   
attempts at raising Captain Mihoshi are unsuccessful."  
  
Looking a bit sheepish, the computer added, "I'm afraid she is   
watching some Earth soap opera on her vid and has turned off her cabin   
communicator."  
  
"Aghgh, no!" snarled Mayuka, running her hands along side her   
head through her shoulder length hair. "If she's watching those dumb shows,   
she'll stay locked inside her cabin for hours! We'll lose this perpetrator!"  
  
Freezing in mid-rant, a sneaky look crossed her face. Turning slowly   
towards Corolla, she leveled an innocent look at the computer  
  
"Say, Corolla," Mayuka purred sweetly.  
  
"Uh, yes, Miss Mayuka?" Corolla responded with some unease.  
  
"You don't suppose you could start the pursuit yourself, hmm?" she   
asked, "After all, the captain *is* temporarily indisposed, but I'm sure she'd   
want you to move the ship and chase this craft down, riiiiiiiiight?"  
  
A bead of sweat appeared from somewhere on Corolla's metal   
forehead. "Uh, according to Galaxy Police regulation GP-1041, such pursuit   
without commanding officer approval is-"  
  
"I'll re-lube your pivot joints for you," Mayuka said coyly. "When   
was the last time Mihoshi gave you proper maintanence?"  
  
"Too long," Corolla admitted in defeat. "Ahem, main engines   
beginning pre-burn ignition sequence-"  
  
"Yaa-hoo!" cheered Mayuka, throwing herself into the command   
chair and strapping in.  
  
"-all systems are adjusting to active pursuit configuration," the   
computer continued. "Pursuit and intercept course of suspicious craft being   
calculated. Destination confirmed. Colonized planet Earth in the restricted   
Solar System of Jurai. Estimated time of arrival is five point seven Jurai   
standard days."  
  
"Planet Earth?" she demanded, looking up from the console of the   
ship. "Oh, geez! The only time space crafts come to Earth is to crash on top   
of my daddy's house!"  
  
"Insufficient data for such conclusion at this time," Corolla said, "but   
historical precedence does suggest such behavior as probable. Main engines   
ready for burn. All systems awaiting pursuit command."  
  
A stray thought occurred to Mayuka as she raised her hand to give the   
word.  
  
"Say, Corolla," she asked mischievously, "is there any way you could   
start the ship in a *really* jumpy fashion?"  
  
"Affirmative. However, such a ship maneuver would cause   
considerable disarray to many of the ship's stores of items, including   
significant damage to the mess in Captain Mihoshi's cabin."  
  
"Exactly," grinned Mayuka, "maybe that would get her attention!"  
  
There was an uncomfortable pause.  
  
"You never saw me do this, right?" the computer asked quietly.  
  
"Mums the word," she whispered back.  
  
Mayuka sat up straight and in a louder voice said dramatically,   
"Engage!"  
  
There was a shudder through the ship as the engines burned, causing   
a momentarily sickening lurch to one side, slinging both Corolla and Mayuka   
heavily. From down the ship's main corridor, an unhappy cry of surprise   
came echoing forward.  
  
***  
  
  
In the heavy darkness of a subterranean world, the Tree of Darkness  
sat on it's tiny island, its leave undulating slowly with a sickly green hue.   
At the edge of the island, under drooping branches that all but touched the   
rank water, the humanoid creature stared intently at his reflection.  
  
Red eyes were all that was discernible from the water.  
  
After a few moments of observation, the creature stood up straight and   
stretched it's arms lazily, bringing them down by his sides. Looking over its   
shoulder back towards the tree, it focused on a simple hourglass which sat   
embedded in the side of the tree. Sand poured slowly from the top of the   
hourglass, which was about three quarters full, into the bottom.  
  
Looking back over the dark, slow waters, the creature revealed a   
toothy grin.  
  
"Soon, Princess," it whispered. "So very, very soon."  
  
***  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter Five:  
  
"I'll just kiss him..."  
  
Nathaniel checks out, Sasami recieves a sad insight, and a festival  
approaches!  
  
Comments and critcisms more than welcome!  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000. 


	5. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 5

Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of   
Pioneer/AIC. As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this   
fiction other than my own enjoyment, because the thought of   
getting sued is rather unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi   
Muyo Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of   
fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure   
coincidence. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably just itching   
for a fight. Also, please do not try and distribute this story in   
some lame attempt to make a buck; it would be bad karma to say   
the least.  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
  
Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.  
-- Miyamoto Musashi  
  
  
-* Chapter Five *-  
  
  
Things were definitely not getting off to a grand start   
that morning. I mean, if you set aside getting accidentally   
assaulted by a seventeen year old and beat up by a staircase, then   
you *might* manage to try and `buck up' for the rest of your   
adventure. After all, things could not get much worse than that,   
right?  
  
I looked up through my blurry vision at the innkeeper who   
was sitting behind his desk.  
  
"Isn't there *anything* you can do?" I asked in a   
plaintive voice.  
  
There is this old saying that goes something along the   
lines of `never tempt Worse, because Worse will go out of its way   
to show you just how bad it can really get'. At the moment I was   
finding out that indeed it could get just so, seeing as how the   
apologetic innkeeper was effectively evicting me.  
  
"I know I've been gone for two days," I tried to explain,   
"but I was injured and couldn't make it back here."  
  
The innkeeper shrugged his shoulders and gave me another   
once over. "Yeah, Mr. Swann, you sure don't look good, but your   
reservations specifically stated that you would be out by noon   
today."  
  
Scratching the back of his head, he then said, "Your room   
is going to have new occupants this afternoon, and the rest of our   
inn is filled through the weekend."  
  
"Ne," interjected Sasami, "there are a couple of other   
inns around town. Will any of them have a room?"  
  
The innkeeper shook his head in the negative. "No, not   
with the festival in town starting tomorrow night. Everyone will   
be booked for days, I assure you."  
  
Bringing the fingers of my uninjured hand to my temple, I   
squinted at the fellow and asked, "Well, we have an errand to do   
in town that may take a little while. Can I remove my things   
after we're done?"  
  
The innkeeper nodded his head sympathetically at me. "Go   
ahead," he motioned with his hand, "you're supposed to be out by   
noon, but I think I can stretch that till one. After that, we   
*must* begin to get the room ready for its next occupants."  
  
"I appreciate it," I smiled wearily, "Thank you for your   
understanding."  
  
With that, I turned away from the desk with Sasami and   
trudged towards the back courtyard to my room. Beside me, Sasami   
had her hands behind her back and was making little humming   
noises.  
  
"This complicates things a little," I grumbled.  
  
Sasami raised an eyebrow at me. "What happened to the   
good humored Nathaniel that was sitting with me on the bench?" she   
asked curiously.  
  
"Ah, nothing really," I responded, "he's just spending a   
couple minutes in the penalty box for cross-checking."  
  
"Cross-checking?" Sasami echoed with a totally blank look   
on her face.  
  
I nodded. "Yep, ice hockey term. Means my good humor is   
out of the game for a while." I made a grand effort at a smile   
and said, "Should be back in a little bit, though."  
  
She nodded seriously, "Well, that's good. How am I   
supposed to figure out how to be so upbeat again from your example   
if you start getting gloomy on me?" Her eyes appeared to be   
narrow and searching, as if I were a puzzle she was trying to   
figure out.  
  
"Uh, you really want to learn how to be upbeat?" I asked   
as we crossed the courtyard. "Huh. I'm not sure how I'd explain   
it, actually."  
  
Sasami pouted at me for a moment and returned to her   
humming, apparently in thought.  
  
"Please try to think of a way," she said, ceasing her   
humming and smiling suddenly, "I could really use a refresher   
course."  
  
"All right, then, I'll do my-"   
  
There was a loud exclamation from in front of us, stopping   
us in our tracks. Before me was the elderly woman who had   
directed me to the Masaki shrine days ago.  
  
"My, my! Young man," she began with wide eyes, "whatever   
happened to you?"  
  
Slowly walking over to us, she peered up at me and   
examined my bandages. "I was wondering where you had been the   
past two days! Who did this to you?"  
  
"Oh," I said seriously, my humor suddenly returning,   
"remember than sleeping demon you told me about?"  
  
"Oh, dear, yes!" she said in expectation.  
  
"I'm afraid I woke it."  
  
Her hands went up to the side of her face. "You don't   
say!"  
  
I smiled down at the old woman. "Don't worry," I said,   
winking at her, "the demon looks a lot worse than I do."  
  
The elderly woman chortled happily at my joke and turned   
to wander off in the courtyard. Sasami and I could hear her   
talking to herself about the demon as she walked away. A blurry   
eyebrow from my long-haired companion asked volumes of unspoken   
questions.  
  
"Ah," I motioned, "that was the lady who suggested I visit   
your shrine in the first place."  
  
"Really?!" responded Sasami.  
  
"Yep, really. She said there was a shrine with a sleeping   
demon, so naturally I was curious to see it."  
  
Opening the door to my room, I looked over my shoulder and   
said, "I always find it neat how people believe in these imaginary   
stories, don't you?"  
  
In a bland tone of voice behind me, Sasami replied, "Sure.   
Who knows why people make this stuff up."  
  
Entering my room, I quickly located my portable brain and   
turned the little computer on. Behind me, there was a slight   
thump as Sasami slid my backpack off her shoulders and deposited   
it in a corner. With a quiet whirring noise, the laptop came to   
life, and its screen brightened. As I waited patiently for the   
bios to run through its system checks, Sasami brushed several   
locks of hair out of her eyes and leaned over my shoulder.  
  
"So *this* is your portable brain," she said innocently.   
"I wonder if it's interchangeable with the one you bruised?"  
  
I quirked an eyebrow as I considered the young woman   
leaning over me. Her quiet and unresponsive nature seemed to have   
evaporated from earlier this morning only to be replaced by an   
offbeat wit. I did not really want to see her go back to being   
quiet, so I played along.  
  
"Perhaps," I said grudgingly, "but even if it were, I   
wouldn't do so. I have a fondness for antiquity, you see."  
  
Sasami grinned down at me. "I do see," she smiled, "just   
make sure you don't get it shaken too much more. It's hard to   
find good replacement parts for antique brains."  
  
"Especially at the rate at which your family damages   
them," I smiled back.  
  
Sasami put one hand back behind her head and laughed   
nervously. "Uh, heh-heh, yeah," she chuckled, slightly   
embarrassed.  
  
I grinned as I put my face inches from the laptop screen,   
trying to focus on the options. After clicking through several   
incorrect files and directories, I finally stumbled onto what I   
was looking for.  
  
"Ah," I exclaimed happily, "there she is!"  
  
"Let me see," said Sasami, gently nudging me to one side   
of the table. I moved over a tad and gave her some room.  
  
"It's in English," she mused with a slight frown, "but I   
think I can do a fair job at translating this. Maybe we'll get   
lucky and someone at the eye glasses shop will speak English,   
too."  
  
"Maybe," I nodded hopefully, powering down the laptop.  
  
Closing the monitor shut, I stood up and collected some   
things, including a little extra money from my suitcase.   
  
"We should be back before one, I guess," I said, scanning   
the room.  
  
Sasami nodded and picked up my portable brain, giving me a   
once over. "Hey, if you look miserable enough, maybe they'll give   
you an 'abused   
tourist' discount."  
  
For certain, Sasami's personality was out of the quiet   
phase, and I could not have been happier. The thought of spending   
an afternoon with the one friend I had seemed to have made in   
Japan would not have been too nice had she still been lost in   
whatever world she had been in on the bus.  
  
* * *  
  
  
"Ah, don't look so glum, Nathaniel."  
  
Sasami stopped and held the door of the local eye glasses   
shop open as Nathaniel walked outside into the sunlight.   
Squinting as he entered the bright light, he turned his head   
towards where Sasami was patiently standing.  
  
"I look glum?" he asked.  
  
Sasami pondered him for a moment, letting the glass door   
swing shut.  
  
"No," she disagreed, "you have more of a serious look on   
your face. Cheer up! You'll have your glasses on Monday."  
  
"True, but that's four days from now," he said, shifting   
his injured arm a bit.  
  
Looking down at his watch, Nathaniel grimaced, "and I have   
to be out of that room in about forty-five minutes."  
  
"Oh, right," Sasami said, smiling goofy, "I forgot.   
You're worried about where you're going to be sleeping tonight!   
That's really not a problem, because you'll be staying at my   
home."  
  
As the idea took hold in her mind, Sasami skipped down the   
store front steps to the sidewalk, her hair cascading behind her   
in long waves. In the midday sun, people walked past her on their   
way to wherever.  
  
At the top of the stairs, Nathaniel rubbed the back of his   
head with an uncomfortable look on his face.  
  
"Let me guess," Sasami mused, looking up at him, "the idea   
of staying at my house makes you feel uncomfortable, because   
you're afraid of being a nuisance?"  
  
"Uh, something like that, yep."  
  
With a genuine laugh, Sasami put her hand on her hips.   
"You sure *are* a gentleman, aren't you? Tell me something, O'   
Courteous One, where exactly do you plan to spend your time till   
Monday?"  
  
"Well, uh." Nathaniel stammered, at a loss.  
  
Sasami leaned forward slightly, tilting her left ear   
towards him. "Hmm, what was that? Sleeping on a park bench did   
you say?"  
  
"Okay, okay," Nathaniel surrendered, "I see your point."  
  
Sasami sighed and nodded sagely.  
  
"That's good. I was starting to wonder if the jolt to   
your head had really started to affect you. Besides," she grinned   
as he started to walk down the steps, "it's the least we can do   
for you."  
  
Sasami backed up another step and promptly ran into   
someone behind her with a grunt.  
  
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she said, turning around as she   
apologized. "Are you - hey!" she exclaimed as she got shoved   
roughly by a young man wearing a leather biking jacket.  
  
"You stupid foreigner," he sneered at Sasami nastily, "why   
don't you watch where the hell you're going!"  
  
Behind him, two other young men about nineteen or twenty   
and also wearing leather jackets appeared with threatening looks.  
  
"Hey now," Nathaniel called out in Japanese with a   
deceptively pleasant voice, "I'm sure my friend here is sorry for   
bumping into you. No need for any shoving."  
  
"No one asked you, jerk," the first punk replied   
threateningly. Regaining a bit of composure, he straightened his   
jacket slightly, and looked around at the people walking past.   
  
"You're just lucky there're so many people around to keep   
me from personally kicking your ass outta my country," he smirked.  
  
One of his buddies spoke up from behind him. "Yeah, why   
don't you get out of our town and country *real* fast,   
foreigners."  
  
Placing his body in the space between the punks and   
Sasami, Nathaniel gently pushed the stunned young woman away from   
the men.   
  
"Sure, no problem," he smiled with a polite tone still in   
his voice. "We were just leaving."  
  
Keeping his body between Sasami and the three punks,   
Nathaniel guided the dumb-struck princess away until they had   
sufficiently melted into a group of pedestrians. Not caring to   
hang around to see if the punks would decide to try and follow   
them or not, Nathaniel quickly led Sasami around a corner and   
headed back in the direction he thought the inn was.  
  
"Think I'm heading the right way?" he asked Sasami.  
  
"T-those three were mean to us!" she stammered in a   
slightly panicky voice. "I tried to apologize, but he just   
*shoved* m-me."  
  
Nathaniel stopped his hurried walk and turned to face the   
startled young woman. "Hey, hey there. Are you okay? Don't   
worry, those guys aren't following us."  
  
"I-I thought he was going to hit me!" blurted Sasami. "He   
was so spiteful, too. Why?!"  
  
With an expression of complete reassurance, Nathaniel   
calmly gave Sasami a comforting hug and rocked the princess back   
and forth slightly.  
  
"I don't know, Sasami. Some people just don't like   
foreigners in their country, and those guys seemed just to be some   
young troublemakers with a chip on their shoulder. But, it's all   
right now, see?"  
  
Gradually, Nathaniel felt the tension in Sasami's muscles   
ease away as she calmed down from her shock of being shoved. He   
waited a few moments more after she seemed totally relaxed before   
releasing her.  
  
He looked down at her with a soft smile. "All better?"  
  
Sasami, with her head tilted down at the street a bit,   
nodded slowly and took a deep breath. "Yes," she said as she   
looked up, "I'm okay. It's just... the look in his eyes. It was   
sinister."  
  
"Was it?" asked Nathaniel with a frown. "I couldn't   
really tell. He just sounded none too pleasant. Anyway, are we   
headed the right direction to get back to the inn? It's almost   
one."  
  
Placing her hand to her head, Sasami looked around for a   
moment. "Uh, sure," she said as started to walk slowly, "it's   
this way a little bit."   
  
Nathaniel nodded and quietly fell in step beside her.  
  
"We'll just grab my stuff quickly and head back to your   
home," he said, still looking over at Sasami. "I think we're more   
than finished here."  
  
Making their way out of the center of town, the suddenly   
tired pair made a slow progress towards the inn. With a   
vulnerable look on her face that Nathaniel could not make out,   
Sasami keep her eyes locked on the pavement a few feet out in   
front of her and did not speak for many minutes. After a while,   
she hesitantly spoke up.  
  
"Um, Nathaniel," she asked quietly.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I just wanted to say... that is..." stammered Sasami as a   
slight color rose to her freckled cheeks, "... I just wanted to,   
uh, you know for back there, say... thank you."  
  
Missing the blush completely, Nathaniel smiled over at her   
again. "You're welcome, Sasami."  
  
Together, they continued rest of the way in silence, not   
really noticing anything around them anymore as the earlier   
happiness of the day evaporated.   
  
* * *  
  
  
The rest of the way back to the inn could have gone   
better. As far as I could tell, the run-in with those punks   
outside the glasses shop had really upset Sasami. And yet, there   
seemed to be something deeper that was affecting her, as if the   
encounter had served to push her into a disposition born long   
before I ever met her. Though her expression was difficult for me   
to see and read, her silence and the way she kept her arms tightly   
crossed the rest of the day was more than clear.  
  
The Sasami that had tried to be cheerful and fun earlier   
in the day was gone and not looking to come back.  
  
Still and yet, I did try to break the silence more than a   
few times. I could tell she did not want to talk, so I limited my   
conversation to rather one sided comments that did not require a   
response from her. As I finally checked out of the inn, thanking   
the owner for extending me the understanding and extra hour to   
vacate, the only sound Sasami did make was a small grunt when she   
hefted my internal frame backpack up on her shoulders. I grabbed   
my suitcase with my good hand quickly to ensure that she did not   
try and make an issue out of my carrying it.  
  
I don't think I needed to worry about it. Sasami had such   
a zoned behavior about her that she probably did not even realize   
I had a suitcase. I did though, and lugging the thing through   
town towards the bus stop was not getting any easier, especially   
with the hot and humid sun right above us. I had not really   
noticed the increasing heat until I found myself wiping my brow   
now and again. Sasami was not having the small struggle with the   
heat that I was experiencing, and as I thought about it, there   
seemed no reason why I should be   
getting over exerted either. Thinking a little more about it as   
we finally reached the small bus station, I chalked it up to my   
still being weak from my fall.  
  
'Or maybe it's a lack of food,' I thought, listening to   
the first hint of my stomach starting to growl.  
  
As we sat for a while on a small bench, waiting for the   
mid-afternoon bus to arrive, I was able to rest for a bit and just   
listen to the surroundings. Part of traveling for me is not just   
seeing sites and experiencing things, but it's also stopping and   
doing nothing at all. Every place that I have ever been to has   
had its own special sound to it, and that is how I tend to   
remember some of the more wonderful places that I have been.   
Perhaps it has something to do with my desire for a little inner   
searching from time to time.  
  
I think somewhere someone once said that you understand   
yourself best when you just stop the chattering. If they did not,   
then I said it.  
  
This little town had an ambient noise that I had never   
quite experienced before. Certainly, I had been in any number of   
similar towns, both in Japan and America, and most of the noises I   
heard were by no means unique. However, I think the occasional   
drifting conversation in Japanese that came to my attention as   
people would walk by really made this place special in my mind.   
The musical quality of a language that I was not wholly in command   
of made the difference, for sure. I closed my eyes and tried to   
store the memory of the sounds as best I could.  
  
About thirty minutes from the time Sasami and I had sat   
down in silence, a bus finally arrived that would take us back up   
to the Masaki residence. Hauling my stuff onto the bus and   
stowing it, we found a pair of seats together easily on the mostly   
empty bus. Looking at my watch, I noticed it was only about one   
fifteen, and I guessed that the bus was probably more crowded in   
the late afternoon when people were getting off work or coming   
back home from school, like Yui. Suddenly, a massive yawn caught   
me off guard.  
  
Sasami finally seemed to take notice of something other   
than her own funk, and looked at me. "Oh, I wish you hadn't done   
that," she said sleepily.  
  
"Uh, really," I responded, "why is that?"  
  
"Because," Sasami said right before yawning hugely   
herself, "everyone knows yawning is contagious." Looking around   
the bus, she stifled another yawn. "I don't think I'm going to   
make it back home awake."  
  
"I feel quite tired, too," I nodded, "don't let me keep   
you from taking a nap."  
  
As the bus started up, Sasami said though another yawn,   
"There you go, being a gentleman again."  
  
I smiled in response and turned to look out a window at   
the trees and houses moving by. After a few minutes I turned to   
ask Sasami about the festival the innkeeper had mentioned, but as   
I looked at her, I saw that she had her chin down nearly on her   
chest and her eyes closed. Snoring ever so softly, her head would   
wobble around a little bit every time the bus hit a small bump in   
the road.  
  
Forgetting my question, I turned back and stared out the   
window for a few more minutes.  
  
Suddenly, the bus hit a slightly larger bump in the road   
than normal, causing the vehicle to sway to the side a little.   
Just as that happened I felt a something heavy and soft land on   
my good shoulder with a thump.  
  
Turning my head I saw pretty much what I had expected.   
Still asleep and completely oblivious to the world, Sasami's head   
was rolled gently onto my shoulder with some of her long hair   
tumbling down past her eyes and onto my arm. Watching her sleep,   
that lonely feeling I had while she held my hand down the steps   
the previous night came back with a vengeance. For the first time   
in more years than I could even recall, I had the vague, but very   
strong, notion that there was something profoundly absent in my   
life.  
  
Whatever that might have been, I stopped pondering as   
Sasami's shoulder and head slid a little more to the right, until   
the top of her head was resting against my cheek. Her hair smelled   
lightly of flowers... or a warm spring breeze.  
  
Closing my eyes, trying to deal with the flood of odd   
feelings that were washing over me, I hoped I could fall asleep as   
readily as Sasami had.  
  
I did not have a problem doing so.  
  
* * *  
  
  
The next day, with the morning sun already well on its way   
into the summer sky, Tenchi Masaki and his wife Ryoko sat quietly   
in the kitchen, each sipping a cup of tea and enjoying a light   
breakfast. Now and again, the two of them would look up at the   
kitchen clock, look at each other, and smile knowingly. There   
seemed to be a familiar sense of expectation in the air.  
  
In time, there was a muffled crash and exclamation from   
upstairs.  
  
"Five," remarked Tenchi, his eyes gazing up at the clock.  
  
Another crash sounded from upstairs, and this time an even   
louder, incoherent yell.  
  
"Four," Ryoko chimed in, not bothering to gauge the clock.  
  
The house shuddered violently with the sound of a door   
being thrown open and continued to shake as footsteps thundered   
above them.  
  
Tenchi quirked an eyebrow at the violent vibration.   
"Three, and a door to repair."  
  
The footsteps made a screeching noise as if rounding a   
corner and stomped like thunder as they came down the main   
staircase.  
  
"Two," Ryoko murmured, holding up a packed lunch.  
  
With a disturbing Doppler effect, the sound of running   
footsteps came ever closer until a burred figure slammed the   
kitchen door open.  
  
"One," the pair said in unison as Yui Masaki darted past   
her mother snagging the lunch from her hand without even slowing   
down.  
  
Speeding for the outside door without hesitation, Yui   
shimmered and phased out of sight, sliding her form harmlessly   
through the door just before it would have been turned to   
splinters.  
  
Please remember, dear, sent out Ryoko to her daughter,   
we'll meet you in town later this afternoon at our booth. Try to   
be on time, would you?  
  
Okay, okay, mom! a frustrated Yui's mental call came.  
  
Unaware of the conversation that had just transpired,   
Tenchi asked his wife, "Did you remind Yui to meet us this   
afternoon on time, Ryoko-san?"  
  
"Mmm-hmm" came Ryoko's soft reply.  
  
"Honestly," Tenchi exclaimed in exasperation, "no matter   
how I adjust her training or work her harder for being late, she   
still manages to barely make it to school each day."  
  
Without much forethought he then asked, "Ryoko, is this   
something that runs in your family?"  
  
Ryoko's golden eyes serenely shifted towards her husband   
from over her tea cup.  
  
Lowering the cup slightly, she said, "What *exactly* do   
you mean by that, Tenchi?"  
  
Had Ryoko been in a pot of water, in spite of her neutral   
voice, Tenchi swore he would able to have seen the water around   
her beginning to boil.  
  
"Ah, well, that is," he stammered, desperately seeking a   
safe avenue out of the kitchen, "I mean, no one on *my* side of   
the family has ever had problems getting up in the morning-"  
  
'I can't believe I just said that.'  
  
"Oh, *really*?" The tea cup hovered in place below   
Ryoko's lips as her eyes took began to gleam. "Interesting idea.   
Please continue."  
  
Tenchi gulped, still edging out of his seat. "W-well, I,   
uh, just thought that maybe someone in your family had, uh,   
problems being on time, like maybe, uh-"  
  
With a slight hum, a virtual viewing screen popped up over   
the kitchen table with Washu's face spread across it.  
  
"Maybe like *mom*?" Washu asked archly.  
  
Sighing dramatically, Washu shook her head and said sadly,   
"I just don't know how you could think so poorly of our side of   
the family, Tenchi."  
  
Brightening considerably, an idea occurred to the   
scientist, "I think this definitely calls for Tenchi to be   
punished, don't you Ryoko? What do you think Tenchi?"  
  
Washu and Ryoko looked across the kitchen table where   
Tenchi had been sitting, now as empty as a ghost town.  
  
"Oh, well. So much for my new lab experiment," Washu   
grumbled, switching off the view screen.   
  
Taking this all into account, Ryoko took a last sip of her   
tea and set the cup down gently on the table. Standing   
gracefully, with a look of playful serenity, an energy sword   
ignited from the palm of her hand.  
  
"Oh, Tenchi, my prince," she sighed happily, "how I've so   
missed playing with you." That said, Ryoko phased out of sight   
and went hunting for her husband.  
  
* * *  
  
  
It was already well into the morning when Sasami finally   
decided to emerge from her room, bleary eyed and rumpled. Wearing   
a long, green robe, tied at the waste loosely, and carrying a few   
bath implements in one hand, she rubbed at one eye slowly as she   
stood under the door frame. Doing her best to stifle a yawn,   
Sasami leaned up against the side of the door frame and absently   
scratched the back of her left calf with her big right toe.   
Setting her foot back on the ground slowly, the urge to itch   
satisfied, she began walking towards the bathroom.  
  
Reaching the door of the bathroom, she slid it open to   
reveal what could only be described as a washroom paradise.   
Scientifically engineered by Washu, the women's bathroom was a   
marvel of inter-dimensional architecture and placement. Across a   
wide expanse of area, grossly disproportionate to the actual   
Earthly dimensions the regular Masaki residence bathroom normally   
occupied, a series of springs spiraled high up into the air.   
Supported by massive trees of Juraian origin, also engineered by   
Washu, the springs were terraced and supplied each other through a   
series of sparkling waterfalls. The bath springs, supplying both   
steaming hot and frosty cold water, were made of a dark wood   
polished to a gleaming finish. As a result, they dazzled brightly   
from the sunlight pouring through the crystal clear dome   
protecting the environment overhead.  
  
Sasami winced visibly at the happily gleaming wood and   
adopted a frown as she wobbled through the entrance to the   
springs, the door closing automatically behind her. Over the past   
twenty or so odd years, Nobuyuki's attempts at 'peeping' had   
dropped off considerably with his advancing age. Nevertheless,   
none of the women living at the Masaki residence could ever be   
quite certain that Tenchi's crafty father might not be hiding   
around a corner with the newest in video technology, ready to   
steal a glimpse for posterity. Washu would be hard pressed to   
admit it (if anyone had actually been suspicious), but over the   
years she had found it necessary to make small design adjustments   
when Nobuyuki surprised her with his ability to *almost*   
successfully weasel his way past the security door.  
  
Letting her eyes adjust from the dark gloom of her room to   
the bright quality of the springs, Sasami paused before a full   
length mirror near the door and stared glumly at her reflection.  
  
It was not exactly inspiring.  
  
Having neglected to carefully wrap her long flowing hair   
the night before, Sasami observed that she was now suffering the   
consequences of her lack of forethought. Her hair was tangled, to   
say the least, and fell down around her shoulders in great long   
mats with an almost dingy sheen. Hopelessly mussed from another   
near sleepless night of tossing and turning, the mess of hair   
would require at least an hour of painful combing to untangle it   
all. Raking her fingers through a lock of the mess, Sasami   
grunted.  
  
The rest of her was not in much better shape. Surrounding   
her tired looking eyes were dark lines, indicative of her   
inability to sleep the past several nights. Freckled cheeks,   
normally full and painted with a natural rosy blush, were pale and   
rather hollow looking. The rest of her face around the corners of   
her eyes and mouth also bore a similarly unhealthy look. Taking   
all this in without any real expression, Sasami stood before the   
mirror and quietly observed herself for several minutes.  
  
'Who are you?'  
  
Letting her bath items slide out of her arm with a   
clatter, Sasami raised her hand up to the side of her temple.   
Letting it rest there momentarily, she slid two of her fingers   
across the length of her forehead, brushing a number of errant   
locks of hair aside. Coming to the other side of her face, she   
continued to trace the contours of her temple and her cheekbones   
with her fingers, slowly dragging them lightly across the skin,   
observing the tingling   
sensation their trail left.  
  
'Who are you?'  
  
Dropping her fingers down from her cheek, Sasami directed   
them to the delicate hollow right underneath the center of her   
nose and proceeded to trace the outline of her lips, switching   
from her fingers to her thumb. A small and dispassionate part of   
Sasami noted those lips were a little dry. Parting her lips a   
bit, she paused her thumb at the center of her lower lip, pulling   
down slightly, before switching back to her fingers again and   
running them along her neckline to the bottom of an earlobe.   
Rolling her head to one side slightly, Sasami let her fingers   
slide down the side of her neck and follow her collarbone, coming   
to a rest underneath her chin.  
  
'Who are you?'  
  
Not changing her expression from its featureless   
contemplation, Sasami's head swung low to one side as she made an   
attempt to loosen the muscles in her neck slightly, her eyes never   
wandering from her reflection. Dropping both her hands down to   
her sides, the princess ran her tongue across her dry lips until   
they were sufficiently moistened again. Then bringing her hands   
together in front of her robe, they worked in slow unison until   
the small knot that held her garment together was undone. The   
soft green robe quietly rustled as it fell open, exposing her bare   
skin underneath to the air of the bathroom.  
  
At first, Sasami shivered slightly as goose bumps ran down   
her abdomen from some chilly air, but then a patch of hot steam   
from one of the springs wafted over her, warming the narrow length   
of her body no longer covered by the robe. Still looking at her   
reflection, now with more of a curious expression beginning to   
form, Sasami brought her hands up to either side of the open   
robe's collar and parted it slowly, feeling the fine cloth brush   
over her shoulders and breasts until it slipped off, falling down   
her across her back until it reached the bend in her arms.  
  
'Who are you?'  
  
Sasami turned slightly and observed her half nude body in   
the mirror.  
  
'A princess?'  
  
'An adult?'  
  
'A woman?'  
  
Sasami dropped her arms down by her sides again, letting   
the robe fall all the way to the wooden floor, forming a crumpled   
pile at her feet.  
  
'A child.'  
  
'A child princess.'  
  
'Still a little girl?'  
  
Setting her feet apart slightly, Sasami brought her hands   
up to her temples and lifted a large part of her hair up and back,   
the small muscles in her arms and legs rippling lightly under her   
skin. Turning further to one side, still holding her hair up so   
that it spilled down behind her, Sasami eyed her body's profile.   
Disengaging one hand from her hair, she slid it down the center of   
her chest between her breasts until coming to a rest on the flat   
of her stomach.  
  
'No, not a little girl.'  
  
'I *am* a woman.'  
  
'Then why do I feel so small?'  
  
'Alone.'  
  
'Unhappy.'  
  
'Controlled.'  
  
'Why have I let the years just slip past?'  
  
'Alone.'  
  
'Poor little princess.'  
  
Letting her other hand slip down from her hair, she placed   
it on the side of her face and cupped her cheek.  
  
'Poor little girl.'  
  
'Afraid.'  
  
'Afraid of what?'  
  
The princess dropped her eyes slightly in shame,   
attempting to force the answers to her unspoken questions from   
surfacing. After a moments struggle, she finally failed.  
  
'Of exploring life beyond the palace walls?'  
  
'Beyond this house?'  
  
'Alone.'  
  
'Always tagging along with everyone else.'  
  
'Never living your own life.'  
  
Sasami blinked repeatedly as she felt her chest begin to   
tighten up inside from self-pity.  
  
'The happy-go-lucky princess?'  
  
'Breakfast's ready!'  
  
'Only a supporting character?'  
  
'Lunch's ready!'  
  
'A useless aside?'  
  
'Dinner's ready!'  
  
As her lower lip started to tremble, Sasami's vision   
blurred as hot tears streamed from the corners of her eyes,   
tracking down her cheeks and splashing on her hands.  
  
'Surrounded by family.'  
  
'But always alone.'  
  
Burying her head in her hands, Sasami drew in a ragged   
breath and sobbed brokenly, tears running from her eyes   
uncontrollably.  
  
'Just waiting for big sister to make a decision for you.'  
  
'Coward.'  
  
Still shaking, the princess dropped to the hardwood floor   
and hugged her knees tightly, weeping as she rocked her body from   
side to side. For several moments she stayed like that, silently   
crying.  
  
"I don't want to go," she suddenly cried out loud to the   
massive empty room, hearing her voice echo back at her.  
  
Sasami planted her face down in her knees and let her   
cascading hair hide her from the world. As her weeping tapered   
off momentarily, her mind cleared, and the truth of an awful   
realization dawned on the princess.  
  
"And I don't want to stay, either," she admitted before   
erupting in a fresh torrent of sobs and tears.  
  
* * *  
  
  
That morning I woke up feeling decidedly out of synch.   
Waking up late in the afternoon and rolling out of bed, I had the   
distinct impression that my head was not lined up with my spinal   
cord for some reason. My movements, response time, and even my   
thinking seemed to have about a three or four second delay.   
Disorientation and confusion. I hoped a quick shower would put me   
back in order, but it did not.  
  
The Masaki bathroom was a good deal larger and more   
comfortable than any number of bathrooms I had been using since I   
began my little journey, and I was happy to have the chance to be   
able to dally a bit in the bath. Since it was late morning, I   
figured everyone must already be up and about, and I would   
not be keeping someone waiting outside. Though it was a nice   
bathroom, tiled and well-lit, I really could not imagine all the   
people who lived here sharing it every day. After all, it was not   
all *that* big.  
  
Finishing up in the bathroom, and still trying to escape   
the 'off' feeling I woke up with, I got dressed and wandered   
downstairs. As far as I could tell, the house was completely   
quiet and empty of all people. I did not know exactly what time   
it was, but by looking at all the sunshine through a window, I   
guessed it might be pretty close to noon. I shrugged my injured   
shoulder and looked for a clock.  
  
11:45.  
  
The realization that I had slept away about a third of my   
day made me feel even more horrid. Sighing noisily, I entered the   
quiet kitchen and looked around for something to eat that would   
not be much trouble to concoct. Opening up the refrigerator, I   
saw a large variety of foods, all of which had either unreadable   
Japanese kanji or looked to be troublesome to prepare by myself.   
The bottomless pit called my stomach growled loudly in protest.  
  
Rumble-grooowwwl.  
  
"Right, right," I said wearily, "don't get excited. I'm   
working on it."  
  
Rumble.  
  
Snagging a carton of what looked like orange juice (it had   
the picture of a squeezed orange on it. Hey, I am an engineer,   
not a rocket scientist), I closed the door of the refrigerator and   
immediately spied salvation in handy, easy to unwrap packaging.  
  
Bananas.  
  
Hunting around the kitchen cabinets, trying to be quiet   
and irrationally nervous about poking through someone else's   
house, I took down a glass, poured myself some juice, and took two   
bananas from the bunch. Setting the juice cartoon back inside the   
refrigerator, I took my bounty and headed out the side door to the   
little deck.  
  
It was at least as twice as bright outside than I first   
imagined, but not terribly so. Still and yet, I decided to halt   
my forward progress right there and have a seat. Letting my legs   
drape over the side, my bare feet easily reached the grass below,   
which felt warm from the sun. In fact, everything around me felt   
that way, and as I munched away at my breakfast/lunch, the sun   
began to make me pleasantly warm as well.  
  
All except for where my stupid bandages were. Those felt   
like foreign lumps ruining what would otherwise be the start to an   
improved day.  
  
"An improved day," I mumbled.  
  
I figured there was a pretty good reason to why I was   
feeling this funk, and it all had to do with coming back into the   
mountains yesterday afternoon. I had more or less slept the   
entire bus trip back, waking for brief, odd moments when the bus   
rocked a little more severely than normal. Sasami stayed pretty   
much knocked out as well, her head resting on my shoulder, or so I   
thought. When we finally got to her bus stop, she was awake first   
and shook me gently.  
  
* * *  
  
  
"We're here," Sasami said warmly, stretching her arms   
above her head with her fingers intertwined.  
  
Working her way though a yawn, Sasami then smiled at   
Nathaniel and got up, hefting his backpack and bringing it down   
from the small luggage rack above.  
  
"Oh," he had yawned back rather unenthusiastically. "We   
have to actually move around ourselves now, right?"  
  
"Yep. Hope you like steps."  
  
"Ugh, sounds dreamy."  
  
The two then stepped off the bus and began walking up the   
path towards the house. As the bus motored off behind them,   
Nathaniel took his suitcase from Sasami and let her keep the   
backpack since he still had one perfectly functioning left hand.   
Making their way unhurriedly around the bend in the path,   
Nathaniel turned just in time to see the bus start rolling and   
motor off to its next destination. In doing so, he promptly   
bumped into Sasami.  
  
"Oh, gee, sorry 'bout that," he said, feeling himself   
blush as his head bobbed apologetically.  
  
Smiling slightly, Sasami turned and commented, "Hrm, if   
you're having problems walking before we even *get* to the steps,   
does this mean I'm going to have to get someone to help me carry   
you up them *again*?"  
  
"Let's hope not!"  
  
Giggling softly, Sasami then turned back down the path,   
and together they continued in silence. Finally arriving at the   
bottom of the first staircase, Nathaniel looked up and sighed.  
  
Sasami looked at him from an angle. "Think you can make   
it all right?"  
  
Furrowing his eyebrows, Nathaniel nodded and said, "Oh,   
sure. I was just marveling at my ability to be so klutzy."  
  
Gathering a little inner fortitude, he put his foot down on the   
first step and started climbing.  
  
"Klutzy?" Sasami replied with a disapproving note, "I   
really don't think it was clumsiness that got you knocked over."  
  
Adjusting Nathaniel's pack on her shoulders, Sasami   
skipped a step to catch up with him.  
  
"Maybe," replied Nathaniel doubtfully.  
  
With the summer sun beating down on the pair, no more   
words were exchanged as each concentrated on the small and not   
entirely effortless climb. After a few minutes of work and   
concentrating on each step, both Sasami and Nathaniel had worked   
up a small line of sweat on their foreheads from carrying the   
luggage. Reaching the top of the stone staircase, finally,   
Nathaniel paused and wiped at his brow with the back of his hand,   
turning to admire the view behind him.  
  
"Wow," he exclaimed quietly in admiration, "I really   
failed to catch this view when we were coming down these steps   
this morning." Shading the glare of the sun from his eyes,   
Nathaniel peered about.  
  
"Catch the view?" echoed Sasami suspiciously.  
  
Smiling sheepishly, he put his suitcase down and scratched   
his temple. "Well, it may be all fuzzy, but even like this I can   
tell it must be a fantastic view."  
  
Fingering the straps of the backpack and chewing her   
bottom lip slightly, Sasami shifted her weight from one foot to   
the other. An idea was forming in her head that was, to Sasami   
anyway, wild, reckless, and making her indecisive and nervous.   
Finally, she thrust aside her momentary fears and took a deep and   
silent breath.  
  
"Would you... I mean, you want to sit here for a while?"   
she blurted out a little loudly.  
  
Turning with an eyebrow slightly raised at the level of   
Sasami's voice, Nathaniel wiped his brow again and gave her a   
quizzical look.  
  
"You can rest a bit, see the view," she added somewhat   
lamely.  
  
"Doesn't sound like a half bad idea," smiled Nathaniel,   
"just as long as we can grab a little something to eat soon."  
  
With that, he set his suitcase down on the ground and let   
himself plop onto the topmost of the stone steps with an umph.   
Taking a deep breath of the afternoon air, Nathaniel then leaned   
forward and settled his elbows on his knees, taking care not to   
jostle his bad arm. With no small hesitation, Sasami stood above   
and behind Nathaniel, still fingering the straps of the backpack   
nervously with half frozen fingers.  
  
'Oh, come on,' she chided herself silently, 'you're a   
*princess* of Jurai, for crying out loud. Just *do* it!'  
  
Taking a little time to loosen the pack, Sasami slid the   
frame off her shoulders and set it on the ground beside the   
suitcase and stood up straight. Spreading her fingers out from   
hands that were placed at the sides of her body, the princess   
gathered her courage for a moment before taking a quick breath.  
  
'Just sit down right beside him real close. That's it,   
Sasami...'  
  
Easing down to the right beside Nathaniel on the step,   
Sasami settled back into a sitting position resembling his until   
she was no more than a few inches from him. Nathaniel looked over   
at Sasami and smiled a little before returning his gaze to the   
mountain horizon, squinting a bit.  
  
For several minutes nothing was said as both of them   
rested. The momentary bravado that Sasami had conjured to sit   
down beside Nathaniel evaporated more and more as time passed.  
  
"I can sort of see why you wouldn't want to leave this   
place," Nathaniel spoke, breaking the silence and startling Sasami   
completely.  
  
"What?" she responded with the slightest hint of panic in   
her voice.  
  
Nathaniel did not notice.  
  
"These mountains," he explained with a small gesture,   
"they seem very beautiful. Almost like green waves that never   
break."  
  
Smiling at no one in particular, he then sighed with   
contentment.  
  
"I used to come out here a lot," Sasami said unexpectedly,   
inwardly startling herself as her nervousness had dissipated with   
the sound of his deep voice. "The commotion from all the people   
staying up at the house when I was younger could really drive you   
batty at times."  
  
Shifting her gaze out across the mountain tops, Sasami   
allowed herself to drift back through pleasant memories that   
continued to surface unbidden. All the days through all the years   
she had come out to this spot to sit a while and enjoy the   
quiet... it seemed so distant and yet so close in time to her.  
  
Nathaniel had broken his gaze from the horizon and shifted   
it towards Sasami, cupping his chin in his hands.  
  
"That's one of the reasons I decided to come to this area,   
actually," he smiled. "I was looking for someplace quiet to spend   
a few days."  
  
Her initial plan completely forgotten, Sasami turned and   
looked at Nathaniel smiling at her, soaking up the ease with which   
her heart seemed to be lightening from its worries.  
  
"Well," she sigheded ruefully, "this wasn't always the   
serene place you see now. From time to time, years ago, this   
place could be so noisy that I'd come out here before daybreak   
just to catch a moment's peace with the sunrise."  
  
"No kidding?"  
  
"No kidding," Sasami nodded. "In fact, during the summer   
time the sun comes up right over there between those two peaks,"   
she added pointing over to Nathaniel's left, her hand brushing   
against his right forearm in the process.  
  
As Nathaniel turned his head in the direction she had   
pointed, Sasami felt something akin to electricity flash through   
her skin where she had brushed against his arm. Withdrawing her   
arm slowly, she unconsciously let it drag slightly against   
Nathaniel's again, shivering a tiny bit at the sensation. She   
looked up at Nathaniel's head, turned mostly away from her as he   
observed the mountains to the best of his limited ability.  
  
And with a flash, Sasami's unspoken agenda resurfaced in   
less than a fraction of her heartbeat.  
  
'I can do this,' she said to herself, half frightened,   
half thrilled.  
  
With Nathaniel totally oblivious to her movements, Sasami   
leaned back slightly and edged her head towards him, until her   
face was hovering just over his right shoulder.  
  
Her heart hammered.  
  
'He'll turn around to say something,' Sasami planned   
breathlessly, 'and I'll just do it.'  
  
Another heartbeat.  
  
'I'll just kiss him...'  
  
True to Sasami's predictions, Nathaniel did start to turn   
back towards the princess to say something. Sasami's breath   
caught and her heart fluttered like the wings of a sparrow.  
  
Events, however, went a little differently than she   
planned.  
  
Nathaniel turned his head, right on cue, leaning ever so   
slightly towards Sasami so her face was that much closer to his,   
and promptly smacked his forehead into hers. Sasami having   
misjudged the distance, withdrew her face down sharply from the   
pain and drove her chin right into Nathaniel's injured shoulder.   
Nathaniel then instantly winced from the double intensity of both   
his forehead *and* shoulder, causing Sasami to bite her tongue.  
  
Sasami recoiled quickly in embarrassment and pain as she   
tasted a hint of salt in her mouth from where she had bit through   
her tongue just a little. Clasping her hands to her face from the   
pain and also to hide her humiliation, Sasami drew her knees away   
from Nathaniel's off to her right and tucked her face into them,   
her hair neatly concealing the rest of her profile.  
  
Recovering from the sting in his shoulder and rubbing his   
forehead, Nathaniel looked over in concern at the princess.  
  
"Ouch, Sasami," he called worriedly, wholly unaware as to   
what Sasami had attempted, "hey, are you okay?"  
  
Knowing he was probably unable to see the hot tears that   
stung at the corners of her eyes, Sasami steeled her voice of   
emotions and said calmly through her fingers, "I-I'm okay. I just   
think I bit my tongue a little. Just give me a moment."  
  
"Uh, sure. Sorry about that."  
  
Sasami, drawing on her royal upbringing, quickly recovered   
her emotions while deftly wiping her eyes so that Nathaniel could   
not see her do so. Finally pulling her hands away from her face,   
she looked up to see Nathaniel gazing at her with sincere and warm   
concern. The princess could almost have started crying in shame   
had she not instantly slammed those emotions down.  
  
And in doing so, Sasami realized that she learned more   
lessons from her sister, Ayeka, than she would ever have willing   
admitted to herself.  
  
'Is this how you felt, sister?' Sasami asked herself   
miserably, still looking at Nathaniel. 'Is *this* like the clumsy   
frustration you felt with Tenchi-niichan?'  
  
Standing up quickly, Sasami picked up Nathaniel's backpack   
and shouldered it deftly. Turning back to Nathaniel, who was   
still sitting on the steps more than a little surprised, she threw   
him a forced smile.  
  
"Well, enough of this sitting around," she said in a   
quick, business-like tone, "let's get back to the house."  
  
With that, she quickly turned away from Nathaniel and   
headed down the path towards the lake. Nathaniel picked himself   
up off the steps clumsily and reached for his suitcase, struggling   
to catch up to the rapidly disappearing Sasami.  
  
* * *  
  
  
I did not see much of her the rest of the day. After   
getting back to the house in record speed, Sasami dropped off my   
backpack in my room and disappeared completely. Not thinking much   
of it at the time, I concentrated on getting my things stowed away   
neatly in my room. Still very self-conscious about having to stay   
here for the next several days, I made my way downstairs to   
scrounge up something to eat.  
  
To my relief, Ryoko and her mother, Washu, were both   
sitting in the kitchen with the remains of a lunch already laid   
out.  
  
"You're in luck," Ryoko said, smiling up at me, "had you   
been any later, I'd have put this food away."  
  
"Thanks," I breathed, taking a seat beside Washu. Looking   
over my choices for lunch, I asked, "Say, where is Sasami?"  
  
Quirking an eyebrow, Ryoko replied, "I have no idea. She   
ran in with your backpack and left just as fast without anything   
to eat."  
  
Pouring me a cup of tea, Ryoko continued. "Everything   
went all right in town, ne?"  
  
Sighing and thanking her for the tea, I shook my head and   
said, "No, not really."   
  
Ryoko and Washu sat back and listened attentively as I   
related our brush with the punks in town. Washu seemed fairly   
impassive after hearing my rendition, but Ryoko's voice had a   
harsh edge to it when she declared what would happen to those guys   
if she ever ran into them.  
  
Afterwards, I spent my day taking a nap and then sitting   
for a while on the front porch. Sasami never made an appearance   
all the rest of the afternoon, and when it was time for dinner,   
Yui came outside to find me.  
  
She said that Sasami was not feeling well and would not be   
joining the family for dinner. Though the rest of the Masaki   
household more than made me feel welcome, I turned in early   
feeling a bit lonely and homesick.  
  
Now, here I was, sitting on a deck in Japan with my toes   
in the grass, munching on bananas and sipping orange juice. The   
blurry charm of the sunshine and birds swooping and diving over   
the lake was lost on me.   
  
"Lovely," I mumbled.  
  
* * *  
  
  
Erupting a huge and fairly obnoxious yawn, Washu staggered   
through the closet door entrance of her laboratory into the   
brightness of the Masaki residence main hallway. Holding her arms   
way up above her head, she then stretched up on her toes and   
sighed just as noisily. Rubbing blearily at one eye, Washu then   
headed off upstairs.  
  
Despite her weariness, the petite red-headed scientist was   
more than pleased with the progress of her newest experiment.   
Just the thought of her work made the universe's greatest   
scientific mind began to giggle slightly, and then a little more.   
Unable to control herself, Washu finally exploded.  
  
"BWHAHAHAHA!" she chortled in a manner that would have   
frozen anyone's veins had they been in earshot.  
  
Almost dancing the rest of the way up the stairs, Washu   
skirted around a corner and headed towards the bathroom, all the   
while singing to herself.  
  
"I'm an evil *geeeen-yus*! I'm an evil genius!" she sang   
as if she were in a limbo line.  
  
Stopping before the door of the bathroom, Washu snapped   
her fingers nonchalantly. Out of thin air, a small wooden bucket   
filled with washing items appeared and dropped lightly into her   
waiting hand. Peering up at the door through one squinting eye,   
as if daring it to not recognize her supreme intellect, Washu had   
to wait only a millisecond before the bathroom door slid open   
quietly. Stepping across the threshold, the scientist entered   
into the onsen paradise, immediately engulfed by a cloud of steam.  
  
Once the steam passed her by, Washu spied a figure sitting   
slumped over in one of the nearby springs. Narrowing her eyes   
tightly, the scientist considered making a quiet exit. Instead,   
she neatly stepped out of her clothes and made her way to the   
dejected looking figure.  
  
Princess Sasami of Jurai was slouched to the point where   
the only part of her body not in the water was her nose and the   
top of her head. Her long, thick hair was not tied up at all, and   
as a result fanned out in various directions as well as hung   
matted against her forehead. Washu could see her eyes were puffy   
and tired, an obvious indication of an emotional outburst of some   
kind.  
  
Oblivious to Washu's approach, the princess proceeded to   
blow bubbles from her submerged mouth into the water.  
  
Washu took a look at her little washing bucket, containing   
her wash cloth and soap, and then took stock of Sasami again   
before shrugging and setting her things aside. Stepping towards   
the princess, Washu then eased herself directly into the steaming   
water. A characteristically loud exclamation passed the red-  
head's lips as she adjusted to the shock of the heat.  
  
Sasami's eyes dully drifted over to Washu for a moment   
before looking out straight again into nothingness. Several   
minutes passed by as both women soaked in total silence. Neither   
really moving much at all. Washu finally scrunched her brow.  
  
'Hrm,' she pondered to herself, 'I should be able to   
initiate some kind of dialogue with Sasami. After all, I *have*   
gotten better at all that motherly stuff with Ryoko recently.'  
  
Feeling a little more emboldened, Washu spoke out, her   
voice echoing loudly against the wood.  
  
"Want to talk about it, Sasami?"  
  
No response, except a few more bubbles.  
  
"You look a lot like I do when one of my experiments goes   
wrong. You spend a few weeks couped up in a laboratory with   
nothing to show for it, you get rather bent."  
  
Sasami continued to breathe through her nose, staring out   
into space.  
  
Washu momentarily played with the idea of fetching a small   
cattle prod and poking the princess. Instead, she tried a   
different line of thought.  
  
"You missed dinner last night," Washu noted, "usually I'm   
the one to do that. How did your day in town go with --?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," interrupted Sasami   
sharply, her mouth having risen out of the water.  
  
Washu raised an eyebrow at Sasami's sudden outburst.   
Crossing her arms underwater, the scientist looked sideways at the   
sullen princess.  
  
"I heard you had a run in with some young deviants in   
town," Washu plowed on anyway. "Nathaniel said---"  
  
"I do *not* wish to repeat myself, Washu," snapped Sasami   
angrily. Pulling herself out of the water, Sasami walked over and   
picked her robe off the ground.  
  
"I am a royal princess of Jurai," she continued sharply,   
"and I have no concern about Earthling thugs or klutzy, blind   
hikers."  
  
With that, Sasami knotted her robe shut, and stalked out   
of the onsen. Washu watched the door slide shut behind the   
princess before stretching out in the hot waters. In her dry,   
clinical detachment, Washu thought about the outburst she had just   
witnessed.  
  
'More like her sister than I ever would have imagined.'  
  
It was not hard for Washu to make a connection between   
Sasami's behavior and her trip to town with Nathaniel. As far as   
Washu was concerned, something more than the run in with those   
punks was eating as Sasami. And it was a fairly easy deduction,   
based on Sasami's scathing comment, Nathaniel was somehow at the   
center of it. Washu closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
"Looks like Ryoko's little experiment isn't working out as   
hoped," she said to no one in particular.  
  
Soaking a while longer, Washu wondered if the entire   
household would not have to start tip-toeing around the princess   
the closer Sasami's departure came. Washu poked an eye open as a   
thought hit her brain.  
  
'Certainly, the easiest answer is to remove any and all   
sources of potential annoyance from Sasami's presence for the   
remaining duration of her stay on Earth,' the scientist reasoned.  
  
Making small waving motions underwater with her hands,   
Washu stoically came to the conclusion that perhaps Nathaniel should be   
on his way as soon as possible... and at least out of Sasami's   
sight for a while.  
  
Washu decided that it was not a perfect solution, and was   
certain to make their guest feel unwelcome, but better him than   
Sasami.  
  
'At least for the time being,' she reasoned. 'He'll be   
gone soon enough.'  
  
The scientist let her mind drift to other matters, like   
her new, secret project, as she lifted herself out of the onsen   
and wandered over to her wash bucket.  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter Six:  
  
"You could have been raped or worse, you dummy!"  
  
The town festival arrives, Nathaniel gets abandoned (twice), while   
Sasami sinks into a bottle, or two, or three...  
  
Comments and criticisms more than welcome!  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000.   
  



	6. No Need For Sasami Cycle 1, Chapter 6

Credits: Tenchi Muyo!/No Need For Tenchi is a product of Pioneer/AIC.   
As such, I'm getting no compensation for writing this fiction other   
than my own enjoyment, because the thought of getting sued is rather   
unpleasant.  
  
Mr. Long T. Tran for his "Tenchi Muyo: Ryoko's Love Prologue"   
story line, parts one, two, and three, and the characters created   
therein. His fiction can be found at GenSao's excellent Tenchi Muyo   
Fan Fiction Page: http://www.tmffa.com  
  
  
Disclaimer: All characters *I* have created are purely a work of fiction.   
Any resemblance to persons living or dead is pure coincidence. Anyone  
who thinks otherwise is probably just itching for a fight. Also, please  
do not try and distribute this story in some lame attempt to make a   
buck; it would be bad karma to say the least.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tenchi Muyo!  
"No Need For Sasami"  
  
A Fan-Fiction by Michael McAvoy  
  
  
  
I drank what?  
-- infamous Socrates misquote  
  
  
-* Chapter Six *-  
  
  
It was turning out to be a wonderful vacation for Major Kiyone.   
Leaning her command chair back a bit in her spacious office at Galaxy Police   
headquarters, the major sipped a warm beverage and gazed contentedly out a   
massive port window at the million stars visible in her part of the galaxy.   
Kiyone lazily stretched her legs out in front of her and sighed happily.  
  
No Mihoshi. For three whole weeks, no Mihoshi.  
  
Kiyone did feel a momentary sensation of guilt for deceiving   
Mayuka Masaki slightly, thus trapping the young woman in near empty   
space with the outrageously silly captain, but only for a moment.  
  
"Far better for her to see the worst of it now than later," she   
murmured to the empty room.  
  
Though promotion had inevitably removed Major Kiyone from the   
pilot's command chair of a patrol cruiser in favor of more administrative   
duties, the past twenty odd years had been kind to her. A few slight hints of   
lines around the corners of her eyes and an occasional stray silver hair   
amongst the long black strands were all that could be said for wear on the   
woman.  
  
Besides, being promoted gave Kiyone these tiny excuses to send   
Mihoshi away from time to time on some harmless assignment. At least, the   
major *hoped* the assignment would be harmless. Kiyone had no scientific   
proof of this, but she often suspected that Captain Mihoshi was some kind of   
cosmic antenna for attracting trouble.  
  
An electronic buzzer from her office door captured Kiyone's   
attentions, drawing her away from the large window into space.  
  
"Enter, please," she announced, setting her beverage down on her   
desk.  
  
With a swoosh of hydraulics, her office door slid open quickly,   
revealing one of the lieutenant officers directly under Kiyone's command. He   
stepped rapidly through the door and saluted smartly, waiting to be   
acknowledged.  
  
Kiyone sighed inwardly. For several weeks she had been trying to   
break this new officer's rather stiff behavior, but to no avail. For some   
reason it seemed to Kiyone that the Academy was putting out a lot more uptight   
graduates these days.  
  
"Good morning, lieutenant, what do you have for me?"  
  
"Good morning, sir," the young lieutenant replied, moving quickly   
towards the major's desk. "Command dispatch picked up activity from a GP   
patrol cruiser early this morning near the Sol system." Reaching the desk,   
he set a series of short briefs on Kiyone's desk.  
  
Without looking at the briefs, Kiyone asked, "Captain Mihoshi?"  
  
"Yes, Major Kiyone," the young man replied, "As per your   
instructions regarding all communications from Captain Mihoshi, this was   
brought to your attention as soon as it was received and decoded."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Sir, Captain Mihoshi reports contact with a suspicious vehicle   
heading at high speed towards the colonized planet Earth in the Jurai   
restricted zone." Gesturing towards the top page of his report, the officer   
continued, "The captain reports that the ship is traveling under highly   
advanced passive stealth technology and not transmitting identification   
codes."  
  
Kiyone raised an eyebrow. "Analysis?" she inquired.  
  
"Sir," he responded, "it is highly unlikely any of our standard patrol   
cruisers would have been able to detect the vessel. That Captain Mihoshi is   
commanding one of the advanced prototype GP cruisers is probably the only   
reason she was able to detect the unknown craft."  
  
Something struck Kiyone as wrong as she glanced down at the   
report in front of her.  
  
"Lieutenant," she said, flipping through several pages, "this doesn't   
look like one of Mihoshi's regular reports. As a matter of fact, it would   
appear not to have been written by her at all. These are all complete   
sentences with no hand drawn pictures."  
  
"Sir, I assure you-"  
  
"No, no, nevermind" Kiyone interrupted him, "I'm sure this came from   
the captain. What is the status of the Mihoshi's vehicle now?"  
  
"Sir, it is on an intercept course with the unknown vessel."  
  
"Excellent, carry on lieutenant," Kiyone said, waving her hand at   
the young man.  
  
"Excuse me, sir."  
  
"Yes, lieutenant?"  
  
"Pardon me, sir," he began, "but standard procedure requires that   
violation of the restricted zone of Jurai space be reported to the Jurai royal   
house immediately."  
  
Kiyone considered her subordinate coolly as she drummed her   
fingers on her desk.  
  
"Lieutenant," the major said, "you are aware of the heated political   
disputes within the Jurai nobility regarding Earth, are you not?"  
  
"Yes, major, but-"  
  
"Then in this instance," Kiyone replied, cutting him off again,   
"seeing as how Captain Mihoshi has not made a positive ID on whatever   
vessel she is pursuing, perhaps it would be more prudent to withhold   
notifying Jurai until she has."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"After all, lieutenant," Kiyone concluded, "we do not need the   
Galaxy Police to be seen as a source of inciting rumor or conjecture   
regarding Earth under these circumstances until we have more conclusive   
information."  
  
"I see, sir."  
  
"However, keep me informed the moment the situation changes.   
Once we have a positive ID, we will need to contact the Jurai royal house   
directly."  
  
"Very good, sir!" the lieutenant saluted, spinning on his heel and   
walking briskly out of the major's office.  
  
Kiyone sighed after the young officer and thought, 'Was I that stiff   
at his age?'  
  
Swiveling her chair back towards the view of the stars, Kiyone   
looked out the massive window and smiled.  
  
"Mayuka Masaki, you're writing Mihoshi's command reports. What   
else are you up to?"  
  
The major grinned and went back to sipping her beverage.  
  
***  
  
  
With a small grunt, Tenchi Masaki brought down the hatchback to   
his mini-van and dusted his hands. Wiping just a touch of perspiration from   
his brow, he then turned towards the front porch and looked up at his wife.  
  
"Are we ready?" Tenchi asked Ryoko.  
  
Ryoko put a finger thoughtfully to her chin and lazily strolled down   
the couple of steps towards her husband. "Sure," she replied, "I think we   
have everything left that Yosho and your father didn't have room for in their   
van."  
  
Tenchi nodded and smiled. "We should be leaving soon then,   
Ryoko-san. Even with Sasami with them, they're going to need more   
helping hands to get the booth up before grandfather performs his Shinto   
duties this evening."  
  
"Teeeenchi," Ryoko smiled back at her husband, "we'll get there in   
plenty of time. As a matter of fact, there's our guest now."  
  
Ryoko waved at the porch and in English called out, "There you are,   
Nathaniel! Are you ready see our idea of a party?"  
  
Nathaniel Swann stepped out into the late afternoon sun and smiled   
hesitantly.  
  
"I love a festival," he replied in slow Japanese, "and this sort of   
thing is exactly what I wanted to see in Japan."  
  
Ryoko raised her eyebrows. "Ah, making a continuing effort to   
adapt to the local language?"  
  
Nathaniel nodded. "Well, you don't make progress by not making   
attempts."  
  
"Good attitude, Nathaniel," Tenchi approved. "We're waiting for   
my mother-in-law, so why don't you go ahead and get in the van?"  
  
"Don't bother, because you're not going," Washu's voice rang out   
from behind Nathaniel.  
  
"He's not?" asked Tenchi, slightly confused.  
  
"I'm not?" echoed Nathaniel, disappointment crossing his face.  
  
"Affirmative," Washu replied, strolling past Nathaniel towards the   
van.  
  
"Washu," growled Ryoko, "what's the problem? Why can't he   
come?"  
  
"That's *doctor* Washu, Ryoko," she replied primly, "and the   
problem *is* Nathaniel hasn't recuperated enough to handle being at the   
festival all weekend."  
  
Washu turned to Nathaniel and eyed him up and down. "You   
experienced exhaustion and some continuing dizziness yesterday in town   
after walking around just a little bit, correct?"  
  
"Well, yes," Nathaniel replied.  
  
"And," the little red-headed scientist plowed on, "you've also   
admitted to feeling somewhat weak today as well, correct?"  
  
"I wouldn't exactly say 'weak'—"  
  
"Well, then," Washu beamed all-knowingly, "it is *obvious*, as   
your doctor, that your being exposed to the crush of people at the festival and   
being up half the night isn't in the best interests of your health. We'd   
probably just end up having to bring you back home tomorrow sometime   
after you collapsed."  
  
"Oh," Nathaniel replied, somewhat despondently, "I'm sorry. I   
didn't realize I was going to be such a potential hassle."  
  
Ryoko bristled. "Washu," she began with a small edge to her voice.  
  
"No arguing, Ryoko," Washu interrupted smartly, headed for the   
mini-van. "Come along, Tenchi. We don't want to be late."  
  
With that, she hopped up into the tightly packed vehicle and shut   
the small side door. Tenchi looked after Washu and then back to his wife,   
who looked like she was doing her best not to explode.  
  
"Nathaniel, I'm sorry," Tenchi started to say apologetically.  
  
"No, no, she's right," Nathaniel replied, putting his hands in his   
pockets, "I don't want to inconvenience your family any more than I already   
have."  
  
Ryoko's anger momentarily dissipated as she felt a sudden sympathy   
for him. "You're not an inconvenience, Nathaniel, no matter what my   
*mother* might have said."  
  
Nodding slightly, Nathaniel asked quietly, "Is it all right then, I   
mean… I can stay here this weekend while you're all gone?"  
  
That question made Ryoko feel like cringing.  
  
"Of course," Tenchi said quickly. "In fact, I'd appreciate it if you   
could keep an eye on things while my family is away."  
  
Ryoko flashed a smile at her husband for trying to find a way to   
lessen Nathaniel's disappointment.  
  
As the van pulled away from the house, however, Ryoko looked   
back and saw the American's figure standing alone on the porch in the   
retreating distance.  
  
And in that moment, Ryoko was personally reminded of what it   
meant to be isolated.  
  
***  
  
  
Watching the mini-van pull away from the house into the late   
afternoon haze, Nathaniel observed the small swirls of dust its tires kicked   
up, hanging low over the driveway that lead to the main road. He continued   
to stare for a while down the driveway until the dust settled back down,   
carried away slightly by a light breeze.  
  
His hands still in his pockets, Nathaniel stood staring out away from   
the house until, finally, his shoulders slumped significantly. Feeling   
completely isolated and incredibly lonely, he struggled for some words to   
articulate his emotions.  
  
"Crud."  
  
That about summed it up, as far as he was concerned.  
  
***  
  
  
"And just *what* was that all about, Washu?" a very irate Ryoko   
demanded of her mother, as the vehicle they were in traveled down the   
winding mountain roads.  
  
"Why, Ryoko," Washu replied in a feigned, hurt voice, "such a   
harsh tone for your mother."  
  
"Don't give me that 'mother' crap, Washu," Ryoko snapped.  
  
"Ryoko-san," Tenchi began, in an effort to soothe his wife.  
  
"Don't try to distract me, Tenchi! I know Washu, and she's up to   
something, and I guarantee it has nothing to do with Nathaniel's well-  
being!" Ryoko continued to snarl. "Nathaniel looked fine to me, and all that   
talk about the crowds and having to bring him home collapsed was   
nonsense."  
  
"Right you are, Ryoko," Washu agreed, "it had almost nothing to do   
with Nathaniel's health. As a matter of fact, I am quite certain my patient is   
doing more than well enough to have spent the entire weekend at the   
festival."  
  
Ryoko sent Washu a chilly stare.  
  
"Washu," Tenchi said, his brow furrowing as he looked at the   
scientist in the rear-view mirror, "what is this all about, then? I don't like   
the fact that you lied to him and to us so we'd leave him behind."  
  
"Oh, fine," Washu sighed, "since you're going to bother me until I   
explain. It's simple. Sasami communicated to me earlier today that she is   
greatly unhappy with her life, and that while Nathaniel is not the cause of   
that unhappiness, he is a significant irritant."  
  
"She *told* you this?" Tenchi asked, stunned.  
  
"Well, in not so many words, but—"  
  
"Oi," Ryoko said quietly, "you mean you had us abandon Nathaniel   
for the weekend, as isolated as he must be feeling, just to accommodate   
Sasami's having a bad day?"  
  
"More or less," Washu replied.  
  
Ryoko turned back in her front seat and crossed her arms tightly,   
staring out at the road ahead, quiet for several moments.  
  
"Washu," she finally spoke with a deep and emotionless voice, "do   
not talk to me again for the rest of the weekend."  
  
"What's the matter, Ryoko?" Washu inquired with some annoyance.   
"Can't you trust that the Universe's greatest scien—"  
  
"Oh, hush, Washu," Tenchi uncharacteristically chided the little   
woman.  
  
Uncharacteristically for Washu, she complied and stared out a   
window. Tenchi sighed and considered going back for Nathaniel, but   
decided against it. They were already running late as it was, and Tenchi felt   
his doing so would not help the situation any tonight.  
  
'Maybe I can get him tomorrow,' he thought, looking with concern   
at his wife out of the corner of his eye.  
  
The mini-van zoomed down the mountain road quickly, heading for   
town.  
  
***  
  
  
Racing through a remarkably empty section of the restricted zone of   
Jurai space, the latest prototype Galaxy Police patrol cruiser was a blur of   
motion against the stars. Bathed in its sleek, blue GP colors, sections of the   
bow reflected the light from the sun of the distant Sol system.  
  
Inside the ship, the door to the command center swooshed open,   
revealing a slightly disheveled Mihoshi. Yawning hugely, the blonde   
scratched at an arm and looked around blankly.  
  
"Are we still chasing the ship we can't see?" she asked sleepily.  
  
Swiveling one of the two command chairs around, Mayuka Masaki   
turned towards Mihoshi and nodded.  
  
"We're keeping up with it," she replied, "but not easily."  
  
"Oh," Mihoshi mumbled, deep in what might be mistaken for   
thought. "Well, why don't we just speed up and catch it with our new   
engines?"  
  
With a quiet thunk, Corolla disengaged itself from the ceiling and   
pivoted down to eye level with the two women.  
  
"Mihoshi," the computer chimed, "we are unable to close on the   
vehicle in question due to the difficult nature of tracking it."  
  
Mihoshi looked blank.  
  
Mayuka rolled her eyes. "Remember how I told you the ship had   
some very advanced stealth technology," she asked Mihoshi.  
  
"Um…I think so," Mihoshi replied.  
  
"Well," Mayuka continued, "even with the most advanced ship in   
the GP patrol fleet, the ship is *so* hard to get a fix on, if we go too fast   
there's the danger that ship could alter course and we wouldn't even know it   
until it was too late."  
  
Mihoshi blinked.  
  
"Sooo, we *have* to go slowly, you see?" asked Mayuka hopefully.  
  
"Right!" answered Mihoshi confidently. Crossing her arms across   
her chest, the captain then asked, "So why don't we just go to Earth before it   
gets there?"  
  
"Mihoshi," Corolla replied, "we are not absolutely certain that is the   
target vehicle's destination. Additionally, were we to pass the vehicle,  
we would effectively lose our cover."  
  
"Oh."  
  
Mihoshi took the command chair beside Mayuka and sat back with   
a plop. Looking blankly at the data on the screens in front of her, she took   
time to adjust her GP hat.  
  
"So, why can't we go faster?" she asked again.  
  
Mayuka counted to ten to prevent herself from exploding.  
  
"We can't go faster," she said through a tight jaw, "because the   
posted speed limits won't let us."  
  
"Oh, that makes sense," Mihoshi beamed. "As a potential Galaxy   
Police officer, it's important for you to observe all the laws!"  
  
"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Mayuka muttered.   
  
Running a hand through her short hair, the young woman drummed   
her fingers on the console, waiting for Corolla to report any intermittent   
signatures of the ghost ship. Instead, the little computer whirled around and   
faced Mihoshi.  
  
"Captain Mihoshi," it announced, "incoming traffic from Galaxy   
Police headquarters!"  
  
Mayuka involuntarily tensed. She wondered if Kiyone might have   
realized she wrote Mihoshi's reports. Even worse, she might have Mihoshi   
disengage the ghost ship because there was a civilian on the patrol craft.  
  
"What's the message, Corolla?" the captain asked.  
  
"Decoding in progress. Decoding complete. Ahem," the computer   
cleared its throat, "Captain Mihoshi: by order of Major Kiyone, you are   
directed to maintain pursuit of suspicious vehicle and make all possible   
attempts at identification. Report identification of target vehicle immediately   
upon verification on secured GP channel."  
  
Mayuka relaxed noticeably.  
  
"Additionally," continued Corolla, "you are to avoid engaging target   
vehicle if there is an obvious threat of endangerment to your civilian   
passenger."  
  
"Understood!" Mihoshi declared. "Corolla, report to headquarters   
that we will engage this ship soon and arrest the trespassers!"  
  
Corolla nodded to the captain and turned to Mayuka. "Mayuka   
Masaki," it said, "while Major Kiyone enjoyed for the first time reading a   
coherent brief submitted under Captain Mihoshi's name, she requests that   
you cease writing her reports, as it sets a bad precedent."  
  
Mayuka laughed.  
  
"Also, she requests you exercise caution in this pursuit as Major   
Kiyone has no desire to explain to your father why the ship you are in   
plunged into a black hole or the side of a planet."  
  
"Aye, aye, Major Kiyone," Mayuka replied, doing her best to imitate   
a pirate.  
  
Without missing a beat, Mihoshi asked worriedly, "We're not going   
to plunge into a black hole, are we?"  
  
"I doubt it," Mayuka said, shaking her head.  
  
"Whew!" the captain exclaimed. "I'd end up missing my Earth   
dramas on television if *that* happened!"  
  
Mayuka slapped her hand to her forehead and counted to ten again.  
  
"Attention!" Corolla exclaimed. "Target vehicle seems to have   
increased velocity!"  
  
"Can you verify that, Corolla?" Mayuka asked, leaning forward   
eagerly.  
  
"Due to the intermittent contact with the target vehicle, I can not be   
certain," the computer admitted, "but the last faint contact seemed to indicate   
a significant increase in velocity."  
  
"Destination?" Mihoshi demanded.  
  
"Best estimate is still Earth, captain," replied Corolla.  
  
Mayuka shook her head and sighed. "Can we continue to track the   
ship at our current speed?"  
  
"Negative, Miss Mayuka. At our current velocity, all possibility of   
maintaining contact with target vehicle will be lost due to the increasing   
distance between our ships."  
  
"So, basically we have to increase our speed as well, and hope we   
don't run right past that ghost ship," Mayuka concluded.  
  
Mihoshi looked up from a comic book she had brought up from   
somewhere. "We can go faster now?" she asked hopefully.  
  
Mayuka sighed and nodded, "Yep, Mihoshi, we can go faster now.   
Corolla, please do your best to match the ghost ship's velocity."  
  
"Increasing thrust to the main engines," Corolla replied dutifully.   
"Current ETA of Earth arrival is now 2.9 Jurai standard days."  
  
Mayuka nodded solemnly. That was fine with her, actually. There   
was not as much fun leisurely strolling around the dead of space when you   
could really burn some galactic rubber, so to speak.  
  
***  
  
  
As evening settled on the small Japanese town several valleys over   
from Masaki residence, the normally sleepy area erupted into excited noise   
and motion. All over the main square of the town, as well as most of the   
streets that interconnected as far as the eye could see, people   
moved in waves of bright color from their clothing. Across the streets   
lanterns of all descriptions hung from sturdy rope cables, each decorated with   
art, prayer, or advertisements of all kinds. Below the numerous lanterns,   
booths lined either side of the many streets that ran through the downtown.   
People running games, making food, and selling everything under the sky   
called out loudly from their areas, doing their best to encourage passersby to   
stop for only a moment.  
  
As the evening progressed, the number of festival attendees steadily   
increased. Eventually, around nine in the evening, people were shoulder to   
shoulder as they moved through the streets, laughing and cheering out loud   
now and again as someone demonstrated particular skill at one game or   
another. Now and again, little pools of clearing would form around some   
musician, performer, or other as they did their best to entertain and amuse   
the crowds.  
  
All in all, it was a noisy affair.  
  
The Masaki booth was a regular feature of the town festival, and had   
been for more years than anyone would ever to bother to count. Situated very   
near the center of town, Tenchi and company enjoyed a constant stream of   
people seeking both food and amusement. A fairly large operation, the   
Masaki booth had several items a passerby could choose from. Naturally,   
there was food galore, steadily prepared by Tenchi, Sasami, and a slightly   
intoxicated Nobuyuki. Over an open grill and portable cooking table, the trio   
sliced, diced, and prepared a small variety of goodies for hungry patrons.   
Ryoko returned to her position as the cheerleader for the group, using her   
loud voice and seductive looks to entice customers in, while manning a   
decent sized goldfish pond and other small games. Washu, having been  
banned many years past from ever putting on another 'House of Horrors' by the   
festival organizers, had chosen instead to read fortunes. This generally   
involved the patron being hooked up to something that looked like a straight   
jacket which gave mild shocks of electricity, all the while Washu took   
scientific readings and made up whatever futures she wanted. As for Yui,   
she had been released by Ryoko to run around the festival with her friends,   
having helped get the booth ready for everyone earlier in the day.   
  
Ryoko smiled fondly thinking of her daughter's youthful excitement.  
  
And yet, while laughter and amusement abounded all around, Ryoko   
felt herself coming back to the image of their guest fading away in the   
distance as their van left the Masaki residence. For some reason, despite her   
attempts to remain festive, Ryoko would return to brood about that more and   
more as the evening progressed.  
  
Sneaking a glance over her shoulder, the one time pirate observed   
the cooking area, where her husband and her father were busily making   
orders for people walking by. Shifting her gaze, Ryoko then looked at   
Sasami who was… well, who was doing the same thing she had been doing   
all evening.  
  
Looking despondent and moving around as if she could care less   
about being there.  
  
This made Ryoko bristle with annoyance. Not only did it bother her   
immensely that she had been involved in Washu's lying to Nathaniel, but it   
was obvious to Ryoko that it had all been for nothing. Regardless of whether   
or their guest was here or not, Sasami was obviously determined to sinking   
into her depression all on her very own. For a moment Ryoko considered   
exactly what she could do to smack some sense into the unhappy looking   
princess.  
  
'I can't believe this,' she grumbled silently. 'She's acting just like   
her spoiled sister used to; self-absorbed with her own problems and not   
caring about any one else around her.'  
  
A flash of anger darkened Ryoko's face, momentarily causing   
several would-be goldfishing children to melt away hurriedly into the crowd.   
Ryoko cursed to herself and smoothed her face into something less scary.   
With a small break in the crowd in front of the booth, Ryoko relaxed her   
mind and let her thoughts drift over the mountains and back to the Masaki   
residence.  
  
Meee-oow! came Ryo-ohki's happy recognition of Ryoko's   
mental presence.  
  
Ryo-ohki sent Ryoko, have you been keeping an eye on him?  
  
Meow! the cabbit affirmed and sent the her a series of images   
showing Nathaniel's activities during the evening.  
  
Ryoko processed the images and sighed with a frown. Dropping her   
arms to her sides, she brought her brows together as she considered the   
possibilities. Nodding to herself with decision, Ryoko turned away from the   
goldfish pond and walked over to the grill, where her husband was preparing   
another batch of food.  
  
"Ah, Ryoko-san," Tenchi smiled warmly, "would you like   
something to eat?"  
  
"Actually, Tenchi," she replied, "I'd like the keys to the van."  
  
"Keys?" he asked. "Did we forget something?"  
  
"In a manner of speaking, yes," she nodded solemnly. "I'm heading   
back home."  
  
"Home," Tenchi said, looking surprised, "what's wrong, Ryoko-  
san?"  
  
"What's wrong is that we abandoned Nathaniel this evening just to   
humor the princess over there," Ryoko answered, nodding her head over to   
Sasami, who was turned away, looking around uncaring for something or   
another.  
  
"Are you sure, beloved?" he asked, letting the food on the grill start   
to burn a little.  
  
"Tenchi, Ryo-ohki showed me what he's been doing this evening,   
and he looks alone and miserable," she stated matter-of-factly. Looking   
down at the ground uncomfortably, Ryoko then said quietly, "I know what   
isolated and alone, Tenchi. And that we did this to him tonight…"  
  
"Ryoko-san," Tenchi said understandingly, fishing the van's keys   
out of a pocket. "You can drive it, right?"  
  
Ryoko raised an eyebrow.  
  
Tenchi grinned and said, "Never mind."  
  
Ryoko took the keys from her husband. "I'll bring Nathaniel back   
to the festival tomorrow around midday."  
  
"All right, Ryoko-san. I love you."  
  
"I love you, too, my prince," leaning over the grill and giving her   
husband a quick kiss, "but your food is starting to burn."  
  
With a unhappy yelp, Tenchi turned his attention back to the   
burning food as Ryoko turned away fondly and walked past Washu.  
  
"Hey, Ryoko," Washu called out, looking up from her latest fortune   
subject, "where you going to?"  
  
True to her earlier conviction, Ryoko refused to acknowledge her   
mother as she melted into the crowd.  
  
***  
  
It was near midnight when Nathaniel saw the headlights of the   
mini-van pull up the driveway. Sitting out on the edge of the lake's dock   
with his feet in the water, he decided not to move until he had a better idea of   
exactly who was in the vehicle. Looking over his shoulder, Nathaniel heard   
the car door close and seconds later the kitchen door open and close quietly.   
Not long after, the kitchen door opened and closed shut again, and this time   
he could make out a silhouetted figure with a large mane of hair walking   
towards him. As the figure came closer, he eventually made a guess to who   
it was.  
  
"Uh, Ryoko?" he called out tentatively.  
  
"The one, the only," Ryoko returned in English as she walked out   
onto the dock. "No, don't get up, I was planning on joining you out here.   
Nice warm evening to be outside, eh?"  
  
"Um, yeah," Nathaniel nodded, settling back down and putting his   
feet back in the water. "Why aren't you at the festival, Ryoko?"  
  
Ryoko made her way to the end of the dock and nudged Nathaniel   
with one of her feet, indicating for him to make some room on the end for   
her. He slid over a bit.  
  
"Well," she said seriously, "that's a story I'll get to in a bit, but   
first I thought we'd have a drink or two." With that, Ryoko displayed a bottle   
of alcohol and a couple of cups. "Lift your spirits?"  
  
Nathaniel smiled half-heartedly and reached for an offered cup.   
"Normally, I don't drink to feel better, but what the heck."  
  
"That's the attitude I like to hear!" Ryoko declared and filled his   
cup to the brim before topping her own off. "Bonsai!"  
  
"Cheers," Nathaniel replied, and then took his drink in one pull.  
  
"Hey, not bad," Ryoko approved, "have another?"  
  
"Please."  
  
As Ryoko refilled the American's cup, she wondered how much to   
tell him about why he was left earlier in the evening. Ryoko decided she had   
had enough of lies for the day, and decided to come clean.  
  
"I suppose I should tell you why I'm here so late," Ryoko began   
quietly, swirling her untouched drink in her cup. "It seems my mother lied   
to you, Nathaniel."  
  
Nathaniel stopped drinking in mid-tilt, and eyed Ryoko in the   
darkness. "Lied to me?" he echoed.  
  
Ryoko sighed. "I'm sorry, Nathaniel. It seems there was no good   
reason to prevent you from coming to the festival with us this evening."  
  
"I don't understand," he said confusedly, "Doctor Washu said it   
wasn't a good idea, right?"  
  
"Well, yes," Ryoko nodded, sipping her drink, "but not for the right   
reasons."  
  
Sighing a bit while looking out over the dark lake, Ryoko then said,   
"Nathaniel, I'm afraid you just happened to drop in with us at kind of a bad   
time. Specifically for Sasami, it seems."  
  
"For Sasami?" Nathaniel asked. "This have anything to do with her   
having to leave soon?"  
  
"You know about that?" Ryoko looked surprised in the moonlight.  
  
"Yeah," he said, "Sasami mentioned having to go home soon while we  
were in town, yesterday. She didn't seem too happy about it."  
  
"Actually, yes, that has something to do with it," Ryoko agreed,   
taking another drink. "Sasami has some pretty big… issues with her family   
when she gets back home, and she's not handling them too well, as far as   
I'm concerned."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And that's why my *mother* lied to you Nathaniel," she   
continued, "She felt that you might be adding to Sasami's aggravation and   
unhappiness. That's why Washu made up that garbage earlier today."  
  
"Me?" Nathaniel blurted out, startled.  
  
"I know, I know," Ryoko said shaking her head while putting her   
empty hand on his arm, "don't even worry about it one bit, please."   
  
"It's kind of hard not to," Nathaniel complained involuntarily.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Nathaniel," apologized Ryoko. "It's just my mother   
gets these ideas in her head, and she automatically assumes that her methods   
are always for the best."  
  
He simply nodded and took another drink. "So," he sighed, putting his   
cup down, "what happens now?"  
  
Ryoko picked up his cup and refilled it thoughtfully, before topping   
hers off, too.  
  
"Well," she said, "first, we're going to finish off this bottle and then   
go to sleep. Tomorrow morning, we'll head out to the festival and this go  
around I'll make sure you have a good time."  
  
"Are you sure I'm not going to be a bother?" he asked worriedly.   
"After all, Doctor Wash—"  
  
Ryoko snorted harshly and glared. "If it wasn't for my mother and   
Sasami being ridiculous, you'd be there right now, as far as everyone else is   
concerned."  
  
Ryoko emptied her cup with a flourish and brought it down   
forcefully on the dock. "Believe me, Nathaniel," she stated, her golden eyes   
gleaming in the night, "I'm not going to allow any crap like this to go on   
again!"  
  
Nathaniel believed her.  
  
***  
  
  
With the coming of dawn, the light morning fog and mist that had   
collected over the valley town began to slowly burn away. The momentary   
cover the fog provided kept the hot summer sun from heating up the air, at   
least for a little while. Eventually, the sun did manage to pierce the  
thick veil, and temperatures began to climb to something more expected for the   
summertime. By midmorning, in fact, it was significantly warm enough that   
people attending the festival were starting to seek refuge from the direct   
sunlight. As for most of the booths at the festival, it was still a bit too   
early for them to be really hopping with business. Aside from a few vendors   
selling cool drinks or ice treats, activity really would not start hopping   
again until later in the afternoon.  
  
Slouched in a fold up chair underneath the canopy of the Masaki   
booth, Sasami sat with a dour expression on her face, tapping the side of her   
head with a pencil in a bored fashion. Observing the festival patrons moving   
about the street, the princess found it remarkably easy to criticize their   
various attributes in her sour state of mind. Sasami had not slept well, as   
usual for the past couple of weeks, and camping out under the canopy on the   
side of the street had done little to improve her rest. There were small lines   
under her eyes, betraying her weariness, but a trip to a public bath had helped   
enough to wash away the rest of the previous night's activities.  
  
Sighing discontentedly, Sasami frowned at the thought of having to   
endure another evening of work at the festival. The princess had come to the   
conclusion earlier the day before that she was certain she did not even want   
to be here, much less help cook all weekend long. However, in the end,   
Sasami simply chalked it up as something similar to a royal duty; regardless   
of how boring it might seem to her, it was important to keep up appearances.   
Anything less might be a sign of weakness and make the common people   
think less of the royal house.  
  
Sasami snorted so violently to herself that her entire body shook.   
"Sounds like a sorry page taken from sister Ayeka's philosophies of life," she   
muttered darkly.  
  
At any rate it was obvious to anyone walking by, who would have   
even bothered to notice, the princess had no desire to be anywhere near a   
festival, or anyone else for that matter. Still tapping the side of her head   
with her pencil, Sasami plucked a bit of her long hair with her other hand and   
idly examined it for split ends.  
  
'At least that American isn't here,' she consoled herself. 'This   
weekend would be even more unbearable if I had to put up with being his   
nursemaid anymore.'  
  
As if trying to rewrite recent events in her own mind, Sasami had   
convinced herself over the past day that Nathaniel was the end-all be-all of   
her problems, completely glossing over the fact that she had brought all her   
feelings upon herself. In an less than admirable attempt to bolster her own   
self-esteem, Sasami had been methodically tearing down Nathaniel in her   
mind with any number of depreciating and unkind thoughts.  
  
'He's nothing more than an insignificant vagabond from across the   
Pacific,' she concluded. 'Why I've bothered to waste my time with an injured   
free-loader is beyond my comprehension.'  
  
With that, Sasami propelled herself up and out of her chair and   
headed off into the crowd, seeking some kind of diversion that would keep   
her from confronting the fact that her biggest problem was herself.  
  
***  
  
  
The crowds at the festival were just starting to build again when   
Ryoko and Nathaniel finally made it back into town. Parking the mini-van   
some distance out of town, due to the blocked off streets, the pair were forced   
to make the rest of the way on foot. It was quite hot by this point, and   
Nathaniel found himself frequently mopping his forehead.  
  
Nathaniel was glad he had one less thing to deal with, though.   
Early in the morning he had decided his shoulder looked well enough to   
warrant a lot fewer bandages and wraps. As a result his shoulder felt a whole   
lot cooler than it had the last time he had been walking through town.   
Nathaniel seemed to think his shoulder felt better in general, and he even   
thought there was more mobility, albeit stiff, in his arm. He did not think it   
would hurt to remove most of the bandages even if it did expose his shoulder   
a bit more, but Washu was not around for him to ask her opinion, and he was not   
sure he really trusted her anyhow.  
  
In the distance, where a good number of people seemed to be   
heading, Nathaniel heard a large amount of organized yelling and cheering.   
Threading his way through the crowd, closely behind Ryoko, he tapped the   
cyan haired woman on the shoulder.  
  
"Wha?" asked Ryoko loudly over the din.  
  
"Ryoko!" he said back, "What's all that shouting over that way?"  
  
"Oh!" she exclaimed back at him, after observing the direction he   
had pointed to, "That's the staging area for the floats!"  
  
"You mean like for a parade?"  
  
"Sort of," she nodded, "except all these floats are on huge wagon   
wheels or carried by hand!"  
  
Nathaniel had seen pictures of these before, but he still looked rather   
amazed. "You're kidding? I'd love to see them!"  
  
As the pair continued to move forward closer to the center of town,   
Ryoko called over her shoulder, "Well, I'll make sure you get to see them up   
close, then. Tenchi's grandfather is one of the Shinto priests blessing the   
occasion, so it shouldn't be a problem!"  
  
"Cool, Ryoko, thanks!" Nathaniel exclaimed.  
  
The pair plowed on through the crowds, making steady progress   
towards the center of town. Frequently, Nathaniel, impaired by his blurry   
vision, would accidentally bump into another passerby, sending interesting   
bit of pain lancing through his shoulder, but he managed to make due.   
Actually, he felt a little awkward when he realized he was by far one of the   
tallest people in the crowd. It made him feel a little self-conscious and   
exposed for some weird reason.  
  
Momentarily lost in thought, Nathaniel almost walked right into   
Ryoko's back as she stopped suddenly before a brightly colored booth.  
  
"Here we are!" Ryoko smiled at him. "Go on in and get out of the   
sun."  
  
Nathaniel complied and entered the canopy, squinting around   
looking for Sasami. Noticing her absence, he felt very relieved. Nathaniel   
decided he would much rather avoid getting in her way, if at all possible.   
Looking around, though, he instantly noticed Washu engaged with a small   
group of children on one side of the booth and Nobuyuki and Tenchi working   
on either side of a large grill not far away.  
  
"Ah, Ryoko-san," Tenchi smiled warmly, pausing to wipe at his   
forehead from the combined heat of the day and the grill, "welcome back."  
  
Ryoko walked up directly to her husband, giving him a fierce hug   
and a kiss before stepping back to observe him. "You look tired, Tenchi."  
  
"Well, it was a busy night," he replied. "We didn't get rid of this   
crowd until well after midnight."  
  
Beside him, Tenchi's father spoke up. "Indeed," the older man said,   
"and the crowds came back a lot earlier than we expected. There's hardly any   
time to watch the pretty women walking by!"  
  
"Hrm," Ryoko pondered, "would you agree with your father's   
observation about women walking by, Tenchi?"  
  
Tenchi shook his head. "I wouldn't know, beloved, I haven't been   
paying attention to things like that."  
  
"Good answer," Ryoko said, nodded wisely.  
  
"I can be trained," Tenchi replied, bowing gallantly.  
  
Nathaniel laughed, having been following the Japanese   
conversation. Tenchi turned towards Nathaniel and bowed.  
  
"Please accept my deepest apologies, Nathaniel," Tenchi said. "Had   
I known what my mother-in-law was up to, I would have never have left you   
behind."  
  
"Suuure, Tenchi," Washu called from over at her fortune telling   
experiment, "blame it on the wicked in-law!"  
  
Nathaniel put his good hand behind his head and managed to look   
quite a bit uncomfortable. "That's okay," he said, "No harm done, really."  
  
"Speaking of which," Ryoko muttered, looking around, "where is   
our ray of sunshine anyway?"  
  
Tenchi shook his head and shrugged his shoulders as he returned   
with his father to the grill. "I have no idea, Ryoko-san, but we could use her   
help. These crowds are only going to get heavier."  
  
"Can I help?" Nathaniel asked hopefully, wanting to really   
contribute something to the folks who were taking care of him.  
  
Tenchi looked thoughtfully at the American. "How's your close   
range vision," he asked, "think you can handle vegetable chopping?"  
  
"Dicing is my specialty," Nathaniel nodded. "Just put the knife in   
my hand and I should be able to do the rest."  
  
Tenchi grinned. "Hop on over here then," he said, waving a hand.  
  
"I suppose I'll leave you three boys, then," Ryoko said with   
satisfaction. "I have a pond of goldfish that needs attention."  
  
Falling into a rhythm of work, Nathaniel soon relaxed into his work,   
chopping away at various vegetables with good speed, despite his injured   
shoulder.  
  
***  
  
  
It was much later in the afternoon when Sasami finally wandered   
her way back towards the center of town. For most of the time, she had just   
let her feet take her wherever they desired. To be honest, Sasami had   
enjoyed the time to herself, away from her family, away from the   
responsibilities of the booth, and thankfully away from Nathaniel. In the   
crowd of thousands, Sasami found she could be wonderfully anonymous and   
unburdened.  
  
That all ceased when she returned to the Masaki booth. Stepping   
under the canopy, she was unhappily greeted with the site of Nathaniel doing   
*her* job at the grill. Sasami turned to see Ryoko leveling a cool stare in her   
direction.  
  
"It was nice of you to cut out this afternoon, Sasami," Ryoko said   
offhandedly so the others could not hear, "especially without telling anyone.   
Of course, you can see we managed to find a poor, half-blind fellow to fill in   
nicely."  
  
Sasami's jaw instantly began to open in apology, when she suddenly   
clamped it shut. With an exaggerated toss of her hair, she instead adopted a   
bored expression of apathy. Ryoko smiled ever so slightly.  
  
"So," she grinned wolfishly, "the old Jurai nobility streak of   
haughtiness isn't limited to your sister, eh?"  
  
"I resent that, Ryoko."  
  
Ryoko waved a hand at the princess. "If it makes you feel better,   
princess, go right ahead. I've had a lot of practice cultivating resentment   
from other members of your family, so I can more than oblige you…"  
  
Ryoko paused and eyed the princess. "… that is, if you want to keep   
*acting* like a spoiled child," she finished.  
  
Before Sasami could get over her shock at being spoken to like that,   
Ryoko looked over her shoulder and called back to her husband.  
  
"Oi, Tenchi! Look who decided to show up," she said in a much   
louder voice.  
  
"Ah, Sasami-chan," Tenchi smiled, unaware of the conversation   
that had just been exchanged, "you've been gone a long time. We were   
starting to get worried." Beside him, Nobuyuki nodded while Nathaniel   
made a detailed attempt to keep busy chopping at the grill.  
  
"You're just time," continued Tenchi, reaching under the grill and   
pulling out a lunch box. "This is dinner for grandfather. Would you mind   
walking it over to him?"  
  
Sasami stalked past Ryoko and took the box from Tenchi's   
outstretched hand. "I'd be more than happy to," she said in an icy tone.  
  
As she turned to leave the booth, Ryoko spoke up behind her.  
  
"Well," Ryoko said innocently, "since you're going by the floats,   
you won't mind escorting Nathaniel, will you?"  
  
"What?" asked Sasami, off guard.  
  
"Hey, that's an excellent idea, Ryoko," agreed Tenchi. "After all,   
Nathaniel has been telling us all day how he'd like to get a close look at   
them, since he doesn't have his glasses."  
  
Part of Sasami wanted to argue vehemently against escorting   
Nathaniel across town, and had it just been Ryoko's idea she might have   
done so. However, as much as she wanted to avoid Nathaniel, she found   
herself wanting to argue with Tenchi even less.  
  
"Fine," she said flatly. "Come on, Nathaniel."   
  
With that she turned and walked out from under the canopy. Nathaniel   
removed his apron quickly and followed Sasami, with a hesitant look on his   
face, before he lost her in the crowd.  
  
As Ryoko watched them go, Tenchi moved up beside her and slid   
his hand into hers.  
  
"Do you really think this was a good idea, beloved?" Tenchi asked,   
watching the pair melt into the crowd.  
  
Sighing loudly, Ryoko admitted, "No, my prince, I'm not sure. All I   
know is Sasami has been getting more and more difficult to deal with, and   
I'm not going to let her start walking over me, my family, or our guests."  
  
"There's a streak of Ayeka in her," noticed Tenchi sadly. "That's   
the first time I've ever seen it come out."  
  
Ryoko slipped her arm around her husband's waist. "Maybe it   
comes from being raised in a palace," she said thoughtfully.  
  
"Have I mentioned lately how glad I am I never left Earth for that   
Jurai palace and married you, instead?"  
  
"No," Ryoko smiled, squeezing Tenchi, "but I could really get used   
to hearing that."  
  
"I'll make a note of it," Tenchi smiled back.  
  
***  
  
  
Nathaniel made a decent effort at keeping up with the princess for   
the first five minutes, but after that Sasami had no problem ditching the   
American in the crowd. She actually made the pretense of looking around a   
little bit, just so she could tell herself it was an unfortunate accident, but   
Sasami was satisfied when she could not find him.  
  
"There you go, Ryoko," Sasami smirked, "now *you* can go and   
find your lost pet of a patient."  
  
Turning on her heel, Sasami made her way purposefully towards   
one of the nearby booths and pulled out some money. Within moments, she   
had purchased four bottles of sake, all of them in a bag for easy carrying.   
Satisfied, Sasami then began to make her way towards the edge of town   
where a large and probably deserted park and forest lay waiting.  
  
Sasami smiled to herself. She had decided she would see just what   
Ryoko found so great about getting thoroughly drunk. Humming almost   
happily, the princess picked up her pace.  
  
***  
  
  
"Dammit all!" Nathaniel swore as he tried in vain to spot Sasami.  
  
He had only been following her for five minutes when, in the press   
of the crowd, the two had been separated. For several more minutes,   
Nathaniel had wandered back and forth, calling out Sasami's name, but to no   
avail. Now, he was so thoroughly turned around, he could not even tell   
which direction he had come from.  
  
Accidently shoved from behind by someone in the crowd, Nathaniel   
headed over towards the side of the street out of people's way and fruitlessly   
scanned the scene.  
  
"Come on, Sasami," he mumbled to himself, "where are you?"  
  
***  
  
  
Where Sasami was, some time later, was completely sloshed.  
  
Sasami tilted the last empty sake bottle and peered into it with a   
dour expression. Despite her willing it to do so, no more alcohol suddenly   
appeared from the neck of the bottle, save one tiny drop. Letting the empty   
bottle slip from her fingers and land quietly in the thick grass, the very drunk   
princess sighed heavily and sagged up against the cherry tree behind her.  
  
"That whushn't... supposhed to happen," Sasami declared   
belligerently, glaring at the discarded bottle which was now left alongside   
several of its fellows. "I think I fiiiinally understansh why Ryosho always got   
so… UPSHET when her bottles got emptshy."  
  
Drawing her face into a pout, Sasami let her arms sag and drop   
beside her propped up body, her hands lying in the warm grass, palms   
upward. For several moments her head lolled from one side of her shoulders   
to the other, trying to decide if attempting to stay up straight was really   
worth it. Finally settling on her left shoulder, she stared down her body until   
her eyes rested on her feet. With a look of total concentration, Sasami then   
tried to tap out a beat with her toes in the air. Humming an offbeat tune in a   
slurred voice, she failed utterly to make any kind of connection between her   
mind and her toes that resembled control.  
  
Being drunk, she decided, was not as easy as Ryoko had made it out   
to be. It was an interesting progression, however, from Sasami's point of   
view. First, she had started off in a bit of despair, wandering around the fair   
with her bottles in a bag until she found her way to a more secluded part of   
the park. Then, after a few drinks, most of her more morose thoughts   
seemed to evaporate, and Sasami felt a great deal better, even kind of happy.   
Encouraged by her progress, she next downed a second bottle, at which point   
the pleasant buzzing between her ears turned into a sluggish intoxication.   
Everything seemed very thick to the princess, and her emotions were   
suddenly very dull and far away.  
  
It felt very good.  
  
Finally, Sasami was in her present state, thoroughly intoxicated with   
some of her emotions beginning to make their way to the surface again.   
Every thing around her seemed to be moving in extreme slow motion, and   
the blackness of her mood she had thought drowned was creeping back into   
her consciousness.  
  
"Bah!" Sasami muttered, wildly throwing her hand out in front of   
her in a dismissive gesture. "Who needsh me to be a marrigshed prinshess   
anyhow?"  
  
Almost toppling over with the wild throw of her hand and arm,   
Sasami lurched to one side and sat there, hanging limply like a marionette   
whose strings had been severed.  
  
"Who needsh me... anywaysh?" she asked sadly.  
  
***  
  
  
Hot, tired, and thoroughly disgusted, Nathaniel Swann finally gave   
up trying to make his way through the tight crowds and accepted the fact he   
was hopelessly lost. Doing his best to extricate himself from the mobs of   
people, he headed instead away from the center of town towards a less   
crowded area. In the space of only a few minutes, he had plenty of walking   
room all around him as he found himself at one of the entrances to a rather   
large park. Spying several trees nearby with rather large and inviting   
patches of shade, Nathaniel slowly made his way towards the park. Picking   
one of the trees at random, he settled himself down heavily in the shade and   
began to cool off.  
  
"Hell with crowds," he sighed after a while, "and bother with people   
named Sasami who act like some kind of spoiled-brat princess!"  
  
Nathaniel leaned back against his tree and closed his eyes, taking   
deep breaths while trying to cool down. Resting for several minutes,   
Nathaniel decided that he would simply wait here for a while until he had   
enough of his energy back. One thing he was completely certain of, though.  
  
"I want my glasses back," he complained unhappily.  
  
Before he could bemoan his situation anymore, however, he heard a   
sharp scream come from somewhere deeper within the park. For a moment,   
Nathaniel considered ignoring it, but then he decided better.  
  
"After all," he said out loud to himself as he moved to his feet,   
"someone might really need some help, even from someone as blind as a   
bat."  
  
He hopped up and moved as quickly as possible in the direction the   
woman's voice had come from.  
  
***  
  
  
Sasami was almost asleep from her intoxication when she was aware   
of several shadows passing right over her. Forcing herself to sit up straight,   
she knocked over a couple of empty sake bottles in the process. This cause a   
series of rather evil chuckles to emit from above her. Sasami squinted   
through her alcoholic haze.  
  
Standing above her were the three leather-jacket-wearing   
troublemakers she had bumped into the day before. Sasami's jaw managed   
to fall open, though the rest of her body was beyond her control.  
  
"Well, well, well," said the shortest of the three punks nastily.   
"Look what we have here."  
  
The largest of the hoods grinned evilly and smirked at the princess.   
"Looks like the foreigner didn't take our advice and clear out. Now we   
might have to do something about it, right?"  
  
"She's quite the alcoholic, isn't she?" the middle sized punk   
laughed.  
  
"That's just the way I like 'em," the large one said, hauling Sasami   
roughly to her feet.  
  
Being handled so roughly brought Sasami a moment of clarity.   
Leaning hard into the unsuspecting punk, she managed to shove him   
backwards, despite his great size.  
  
"How *daresh* you," Sasami seethed drunkenly, "how dare you   
putsch yer hands on ME, a memsher of the royal housh of Juuurai!"  
  
The smallest punk shoved Sasami back against the tree. "So, we   
have ourselves a royally drunk princess, huh? Well, we'll bring you down off   
yer high and mighty perch.  
  
Impacting against the tree, Sasami instantly raised her hands up in   
front of her and through her haze prepared to obliterate her aggressors.  
  
"That's IT!" she declared. "I'lsh shend you to an aftsher-life of pain   
and shuvvering for your impudensh!" With that, Sasami tried to concentrate   
and reach out for the power from the Jurai Tree of Light, her birthright.  
  
And to her horror found she was unable.  
  
Putting her hands to her head, Sasami realized in terror that she   
could not focus through the alcohol to make contact with the Jurai energy   
within her. Wobbling slightly, she teetered against the trunk of the tree.  
  
"Oooo, we're scared, your highness," the little punk sneered. "I say   
we teach the royal bitch a little lesson!"  
  
Seeing the punks draw in on her, Sasami did the only thing she   
could think of through her haze. She let out a terrified scream, but only to   
have it cut off as the largest hoodlum put his big hand around her throat,   
effectively choking her.  
  
"Shut up, princess!" he snarled at the weakly struggling woman.   
"Make another sound, and I'll snap yer skinny neck!"  
  
The middle punk looked around nervously. "You think anyone   
heard her?" he asked.  
  
"Nah," the little one replied, "you know how empty this park is   
during the festival."  
  
They turned their attention back towards Sasami, who was so   
intoxicated that she had by now stopped struggling all together. The little   
punk grinned nastily.  
  
"Why don't we have ourselves a little fun now," he said, reaching   
for Sasami's blouse and undoing the first couple of buttons.  
  
The punks were so focused on the princess, that they never heard or   
saw the figure behind them approaching rapidly over the grass.  
  
***  
  
  
The first punk never knew what hit him.  
  
I skirted up behind the three young men who had Sasami pinned   
against a tree, my feet mostly silent in the soft grass as I had kicked my shoes   
off just moments before. All three of them had their backs to me, with the   
smallest and largest of the punks holding Sasami. The middle punk was   
about my size and never heard my approach, but there was not much   
available to hit except his back, and I wanted him to go down quickly.  
  
"Hey there," I said maliciously in Japanese.  
  
This had the desired effect of making the first punk turn his head in   
surprise, giving me the perfect target to my already moving fist. Before the   
rest of his body could follow his head's lead, my fist connected on the side of   
his face right where the jaw met the ear. His head snapped back and eyes   
rolled as his knees gave way instantaneously. Before his body hit the ground   
I sidestepped to the right of the largest punk, who threw his left arm out in a   
wild attempt at a punch while still clutching Sasami with his right.  
  
This guy was huge, at least fifty pounds heavier than I was. In fact,   
I could count on my fingers the number of people I'd seen so far in Japan who   
even came close to his size. I had no intention of going toe to toe with this   
young fellow, so I let his punch come towards me, pushing it aside softly   
with my right hand as I continued to sidestep behind him to my right. Following   
my right hand's progress, I used my left to trap and secure his extended arm.   
With his back still mostly towards me, my right hand slid up to where his   
arm met his shoulder. A violent push with my right hand and a twisting jerk   
with my left and his arm gave way easily as it dislocated.  
  
Before the heavyweight could begin to scream, however, there was a   
blinding light and pain as the smallest punk punched me on the left side of   
my face. Letting go of the big fellow in a hurry, I let my sidestepping motion   
allow me to continue to fall to the right, striking the ground hard on my   
injured shoulder and rolling onto my side. Yanking my eyes open, I saw the   
blurry form of the short punk rise towards me with his right leg swinging   
back to kick. As his foot started to swing forward, I let my left foot thrust   
out and strike his left knee, just as his kick connected with my outstretched   
leg. Under my foot, I felt his kneecap give way and scrape with a nauseating   
sound. The smallest punk crumpled instantly and began to howl, writhing   
on the ground and clutching his leg.  
  
Without any thought to my injuries, thanks to the wonders of   
adrenaline, I pushed myself to my feet, ready to launch at the next fellow to   
get back to his feet. The punk I had hit first was out cold, susceptible to   
having glass jaw like ninety-nine percent of human beings everywhere. The   
huge guy was gasping in obvious pain, cradling his left arm that I had hyper   
extended. His arm hung from his shoulder at an obviously incorrect location,   
and any attempt at much movement seemed to aggravate the pain even   
further. The last punk was similarly in pain, though more severely as his   
cries were loud and frantic apparently from significant damage done to his   
knee.  
  
From start to finish, about nine seconds had passed. Maybe ten.  
  
The instant the two punks holding Sasami against the tree had   
loosened their hold, her knees had buckled as she slid down the side of the   
tree into a heap. I did my best to wake her quickly, but she was unconscious   
and refused to come around. Over the yells of the little punk, I heard a noise   
to my side as the big guy was trying to get to his feet. Spinning around from   
Sasami I raised my right fist quickly and prepared to strike him hard. Seeing   
my fist raise up against him, the punk flinched backwards, slipping on the   
grass and hitting the ground with a thump. This sent a lot of pain though   
him, because he started to scream like a banshee.  
  
"Bastard," I snarled in English, my vocabulary of Japanese swears   
non-existent.  
  
Turning back to the still unconscious Sasami, I attempted to stand   
her up on her feet, but the girl literally seemed to pour out of my hands, she   
was so limp. As her head swung past my face, I caught the almost   
overpowering smell of alcohol.  
  
"Oh, crap," I swore again, scooping the young woman up with   
both arms and, with some effort, began to stagger away from the injured   
goons.  
  
Making a beeline for what appeared to be a trail, as far as I could   
tell, I cradled Sasami like an overgrown baby in my arms and scooted away   
as fast possible into the twilight. For a good five minutes, I quickly shuffled   
down the trail through thick stands of trees, my right arm and shoulder   
screaming at me from the effort they were making. Pretty soon, the noise   
from the injured punks faded away as we went deeper into the park,   
disappearing completely once we were safely away.  
  
My shoulder, after heroic efforts, finally had enough and forced me   
to stop, almost dropping Sasami before I had the chance to ease her down   
and let her spill out of my arms. The girl was absolutely limp. At first I had   
thought the smell of alcohol might have been from the punks, but running   
with Sasami for the past several minutes had proven otherwise.  
  
She was tanked.  
  
Flopping on the path beside her, I began to cradle my right arm,   
feeling the sensations of pain lance through my shoulder continually. It was   
not as bad as when I had first woken up in the Masaki household, thankfully,   
but it still smarted pretty bad. However, it was pretty obvious I had reopened   
a wound, judging by the blood stain. I propped myself up against a boulder   
and took survey of my surroundings.  
  
The twilight was getting a bit deeper, but there was still enough   
light to move around in safely. All around us were trees thick with leaves,   
obscuring most of the darkening sky above. As my heart began to slow down   
(it really had not speeded up until the fight was over), I took several deep   
breaths and listened to a little stream tinkle merrily behind the boulder I was   
resting on. Enjoying a moments idle, I pondered getting back to my feet and   
carrying Sasami out of the wooded park before it got too dark to see clearly.   
However, much to my relief, a series of light posts, well blended in alongside   
the pathway, automatically switched on in response to the dwindling   
daylight.  
  
"Whew!" I exclaimed out loud. "At least that's something."  
  
"Huh? Wussit?" a heavily slurred Sasami uttered from beside me.  
  
Rolling over from her side onto her stomach, the young woman tried   
to speak, but ended up mostly eating a good deal of her hair that had fallen   
across her face. Not knowing what else to do, I moved over and scooped   
Sasami's upper body into my lap, clearing away as much of her hair from her   
mouth and face as possible. Her arms struggled weakly as she tried to open   
her eyes and focus.  
  
"N-nassaniel?"  
  
"Not quite, but close enough," I mockingly teased her. The   
confused and intoxicated look on her pale face indicated she had no   
comprehension of my sardonic humor, so I got a little more serious.  
  
"Yep, it's me, Nathaniel," I assured her. "How you doing there,   
Sasami?"  
  
Watching her screw her face up in exaggerated concentration as   
she tried to process my question, Sasami flopped her hand up to the side of   
her chin and let it sit there for a moment.  
  
"I-I don't shink... don't feelsh sho good," she slurred as her facial   
features seemed to sag.  
  
Brining one of my hands up to her pretty face, I felt her skin. It was   
cold and quite clammy. From previous experience I knew exactly what was   
about to happen next.  
  
"Nathanshiel," she slurred again, this time with a little burp, "don't   
feel... good. Chest tight."  
  
"There, there," I soothed, adjusting her weight so she was no longer   
so much in my lap, "I can help you, Sasami, but you have to do something for   
me, okay?"  
  
"Ugh," she groaned thickly. "Wha?"  
  
"Try to sit up on your hands and knees," I said slowly and   
reassuringly, hoping time would not run out, "you'll feel better, I promise."  
  
"P-promish?"  
  
"Promish, cross my heart and hope to die."  
  
"Okay," she said in a small, little-girl voice.  
  
With agonizing slowness, and several more burps, Sasami lifted   
herself all the way out of my lap with my help until she wobbly made her way   
to her hands and knees. She was breathing shallow and quickly now, and   
her face was becoming even more pale.  
  
"I don't feelsh any better," she complained unhappily as she started   
to shiver uncontrollably.  
  
"Trust me, you will," I lied as I began to gather her long hair from   
around her face and hold it up behind her head.  
  
"No, I'sh really don't shink-" she began to say before a violent   
contraction racked her upper body.  
  
And with the practiced ease of a skill I had the dubious privilege of   
perfecting years ago in college, I held Sasami's hair well out of range as she   
emptied her stomach of most of the alcohol she had drank earlier.  
  
***  
  
  
Wind whipped strands of hair across Sasami's face as she stood in   
the midst of a barren wasteland, her eyes closed. Vast stretches of mesa,   
scored by storms of unimaginable ferocity, raced towards every horizon.   
Blood red and marked with deep, black shadows, the land met with   
threatening skies that boiled in a metallic blue haze.  
  
With her arms by her sides and her hands thrown open, Sasami   
titled her head back slightly with the wind currents. They were dry and   
ominous, sucking the moisture from her skin.  
  
'You will know truth,' a male voice seemed to echo from nowhere   
and everywhere.  
  
Sasami's eyes opened slightly to the sight of the wasteland. "W-who   
is that?"  
  
The skies continued to boil slowly, their color reducing from blue to   
a shiny green. There was a silence as the princess strained her ears for a   
reply, her imagination sensing noises that did not exist in the silent features   
of the terrain.  
  
'You will *know* truth, Daughter of the Tree of Light,' the voice   
spoke again, sinisterly.  
  
In front of Sasami, a figure rose up from the red desert floor in a the   
vortex of a dust devil. She shielded her eyes up from the stinging winds,   
cowering behind her arms until the dust died down. Dropping her arms   
when the worst of the storm seemed past, Sasami cracked her eyes open and   
gaped.  
  
"What are you?" she stammered, staring at a shadowy humanoid   
that stood not ten feet from her.  
  
The humanoid had no face.  
  
'Yes,' the voice continued, laughing now, 'you will know truth   
when you look into your own heart-'  
  
The shadowy figure raised a silver blade of energy and charged   
Sasami, moving fluidly and silently while bringing its blade down towards   
her head. Sasami cried out, back peddling over the rocky earth as she tried   
to avoid the weapon.  
  
'-and see fear-'  
  
In a total panic, Sasami reached out an sought the power from the   
Tree of Light and formed her chosen weapon, a gleaming staff of Jurai   
energy. Her arms shook from impact as her staff stopped the humanoid's   
blade inches from her face. With a scream the princess pushed the blade   
away and lurched to her feet.  
  
'-despair-'  
  
Seemingly caught by surprise, the faceless humanoid staggered back   
and rose its blade to the defense as Sasami wildly attacked, screaming   
hoarsely. Swinging her staff of energy in wide arks, she continued to thrust   
the offender away until, with a strangled cry and a mighty thrust, Sasami   
impaled the being through the throat with the end of her weapon.  
  
The humanoid began to quiver and dropped its blade, arms dangling   
loosely. Without warning, facial features began to form from the blank face   
in an expression of searing pain. Sasami's features became one of horror as   
the unseen voice spoke again.  
  
'-blackness,' the voice concluded with evil mirth.  
  
"N-n-no," stammered the princess, her body trembling as she   
continued to hold her staff, "it can't be!"  
  
The figure's lips moved slowly and with effort, trying to speak   
through a red froth that was gathering in its mouth. Finally, it managed to   
talk.  
  
"Saaasshami," a feminine voice gurgled, "how... could yooou?"   
  
The impaled figure went totally limp as its knees buckled, sliding   
slowly off of Sasami's staff of Jurai energy. It landed in a soft heap in the   
barren dust. Sasami's energy weapon disappeared instantly as the princess   
began to stagger backwards, her hands coming up to the sides of her head.  
  
"No. No. No," she repeated numerous times to herself. "NO!!"  
  
Closing her eyes, Sasami dropped roughly to her knees and arched   
forward till her head was almost touching the ground, her eyes closed.   
  
Somewhere, the invisible voice laughed mercilessly.  
  
Sasami whipped her head back and screamed. "MAYUKA!!!!"  
  
***  
  
  
Thrown totally off balance by the unexpected thrashing of Sasami's   
body, Nathaniel shuffled desperately from side to side as he tried to maintain   
his footing with her riding piggy-back. Stumbling in the low light of the   
trail, he finally lost his balance. Knowing he was going to fall, Nathaniel did   
his best to keep the struggling Sasami from hitting the ground as well, and   
with an audible thump, Nathaniel crashed to the crushed gravel trail on his   
knees.  
  
"Frijoles, lady!" he cursed through clenched teeth as pain lanced up   
through his knees and into his legs.  
  
The extra weight of the young woman on his back managed to drive   
him further into the sharp gravel, ripping through the knees of his jeans.   
Sasami, still on his back by some miracle, slowed her wiggling and let her   
head and arms go limp around Nathaniel's shoulders.  
  
"M-mayuka," she croaked in small, slurred voice before going   
totally limp.  
  
Nathaniel let his head hang as he breathed heavily, letting the   
energy expended in his controlled crash return. With his arms still firmly   
wrapped around Sasami's legs to keep her in place, Nathaniel waited   
patiently until the initial pain in his knees has subsided enough so he was   
no longer grinding his teeth. Raising up slightly, he turned his head until he   
could see Sasami's passed out expression.  
  
He grimaced. "Typical, sleeping like a baby, no doubt," smirked   
Nathaniel. "You better have one hell of a hangover tomorrow to even come   
*close* to making up for this."  
  
Turning his head back to the ground, Nathaniel breathed deeply   
several times before launching himself roughly to his feet. Grunting with the   
effort, one of his knees wobbled slightly as if deciding whether to support the   
ridiculous load or not. Finally, his legs found equilibrium and stability as he   
shifted here and there to center Sasami's limp weight.  
  
Then, Nathaniel felt something wet begin to dribble down the side   
of his neck as Sasami started to snore hesitantly. Screwing his eyes crossed in   
utter aggravation, a little voice in Nathaniel's head considered the idea of   
dumping Sasami right there and then.  
  
Unable to do anything about the drool sliding down his neck without   
depositing the wasted princess on the ground, Nathaniel looked out through   
the darkness trying to figure out which way to head.  
  
"One minute you're nice, the next minute you're about as distant as   
Pluto," he grumbled, silently assessing the options presented by the trail   
intersection.  
  
"You agree to baby sit me," he continued to no one in particular,   
"which I appreciate, but then diss me in the middle of a crowd when I can't   
see well enough to get back to your family's *bloody* booth!"  
  
A persistent stinging from his knees informed him, even though he   
could not see the stains on the rocks where he had crashed, that he was   
bleeding.  
  
"I mean, you could have at least let me share a bottle and work things   
out," he said, rolling his eyes. "But, you had to go off by yourself and get   
sloshed all by yourself," he sighed, "letting those thugs take advantage of   
you."  
  
Careening his head back at Sasami, he glared at her. "You could   
have been raped or worse, you dummy!"  
  
Sasami winced slightly in her sleep from his voice. Nathaniel   
immediately regretted barking at her, and turned his head back out to the   
dimly lit trails.  
  
Nathaniel's head fell a little in shame. "And you made me hurt   
those guys *and* myself just to bail you out of your mess," he regretted   
unhappily. "Thanks a bunch, Sasami. Let me know if I can do anything   
*else* for you during my stay."  
  
The moment he spoke those last words, he again felt regret at laying   
his anger on Sasami, even though she was beyond hearing it. Shaking his   
head to clear it of his frustration, Nathaniel looked up through the stands of   
trees in the park looking for any sign of a way out. With his vision, all the   
trails looked the same, and he had a sinking a feeling that they had been   
going in circles.  
  
"Come on," he said to the woods, "give me a sign here. I don't want   
to be carrying this *princess* here all night."  
  
No response.  
  
He shifted Sasami's weight again. "Come on, please?" he asked.   
"I'll promise to recycle more paper products if you help me out."  
  
The leaves in the tops of the trees rustled unhurriedly, obviously   
unconcerned with the plight of the two people below.  
  
"Great," Nathaniel muttered to himself, "now I'm talking to trees.   
Wonderful."  
  
Out of the corner of his eye, Nathaniel then thought he saw a flash   
of light through the darkness of the trees. He assumed it was his   
imagination, until he heard the distant report of a loud bang and pop. The   
noise was quickly followed by more blurry flashes of light and booms.  
  
"Fireworks?" he said. "Well, your royal pain-in-the-ass highness,   
looks like we're in luck after all."  
  
Clenching his teeth from the pain of walking and carrying Sasami's   
dead load, Nathaniel stumbled off down a trail that appeared to lead in the   
general direction of the fireworks.  
  
***  
  
  
Back at the booth, Yosho managed to look somewhat blank while   
maintaining his usual serious posture.  
  
"No, Sasami never brought me dinner, Ryoko," he said shaking his   
head. "I have not seen Sasami-chan all day, as a matter of fact. It's a shame,   
because I was hungry, too."  
  
Ryoko crossed her arms, her face repeatedly falling in and out of   
light and dark with each passing flash of the nearby fireworks overhead.  
  
"Where could those two have gotten off to?" she demanded furiously.  
  
"I'm sure they're all right, Ryoko-san," Tenchi assured his wife   
while squeezing her hand. "Though it's not like Sasami to not bring   
grandfather his dinner like that."  
  
"Well, I'm sure you've noticed, Tenchi, that Sasami's been doing a   
*lot* of things lately that aren't like her," growled Ryoko.  
  
Tenchi could only nod at this.  
  
Yui Masaki looked up from the goldfish pond, where she had been   
swirling her fingers in the cool water. "I've been all over town all afternoon,   
mom," she offered with a shrug, "and I haven't seen either one of them at   
all."  
  
"Well," Nobuyuki offered, fingering one of his ever-present   
cameras, "maybe they made up and decided to go somewhere a little more   
quiet!"  
  
"Daaad, be serious," Tenchi groaned.  
  
"At any rate," his father continued, "there's no way we'll be able to   
find them until the crowd thins out, so we shouldn't get overly worked up."  
  
"Excellent point," Yosho agreed, nodding solemnly.  
  
However, before anyone could say another word, the crowd of people   
around the Masaki booth shuddered anxiously for a moment. Without   
warning, the crowd parted suddenly, revealing a grotesque looking form,   
hunched over in the semidarkness. Seeming to have two heads, four arms,   
and four legs, the monster staggered slowly over to the Masaki booth until it   
reached the front, stopping jerkily.  
  
Ryoko gasped as even Yosho managed to look alarmed when the   
monster raised up into the light of the booth. Bloodied and bruised,   
Nathaniel blinked owlishly from the light above the grill and tried to shift an   
unconscious Sasami into a more comfortable position. Gasping for breath,   
Nathaniel managed to say something with his parched throat.  
  
"M-made it," he croaked as his knees buckled and gave way under   
Sasami's weight. Crashing to the street on his knees, Nathaniel's grunt of   
pain was cut off as his forehead smacked onto the pavement immediately   
afterwards.  
  
Nathaniel could hear seemingly distant voices calling from all   
around him as he happily blacked out. Sasami rolled off Nathaniel's back   
lightly into a twisted heap, still wholly unaware of what was transpiring.  
  
There was a quick flash as Nobuyuki took a picture.  
  
***  
  
  
  
Coming up in Chapter 7:  
  
  
Ryoko gets bent, Sasami gets an unwelcome royal visitor, and Nathaniel's  
horizons are widened.  
  
Email Appreciated!  
  
Send comments to Mike McAvoy   
http://members.nbci.com/mmcavoy/  
  
Last updated December 14, 2000. 


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